CONTEMPORARY SCIENTIFIC ARCHIVES CENTRE Catalogue of the papers and correspondence of EDWARD ARTHUR MILNE, FRS (1896-1950) Compiled by Jeannine Alton and Peter Harper Deposited in the Department of Western Manuscripts, All rights reserved Bodleian Library, Oxford CSAC 102/6/84 E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Title: Compiled by: Deposited in: Reference code: GB 161 Catalogue of the papers and correspondence of Edward Arthur Milne FRS (1896-1950), mathematician and theoretical astrophysicist Date of material: 1916-1978 Description level: Fonds Jeannine Alton and Peter Harper Extent of material: 11 boxes, ca 160 items Department of Western Manuscripts, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford © National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists, University of Bath. CSAC catalogue no. 102/6/84 E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 The work of the Contemporary Scientific Archives Centre, and the production of this catalogue, are made possible by the support of the following societies and institutions: The Biochemical Society The Charles Babbage Foundation for the History of Information Processing The Institute of Physics The Institution of Electrical Engineers The Nuffield Foundation The Rhodes Trustees The Royal Society of London The Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Wolfson Foundation E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 LIST OF CONTENTS GENERAL INTRODUCTION SECTION A BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL A.1-A.4 Obituary notices and tributes A.5-A.21 Personal and family SECTION B LECTURES AND PAPERS SECTION C NOTES AND DRAFTS Introduction to Section C C.52-C.57 Relativity C.58 SECTION D C.1 -C.27 Thermodynamics C.28 -C.51 Statistical Mechanics CORRESPONDENCE Milne's statistical problem INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS Introduction to Section D E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 PROVENANCE GENERAL INTRODUCTION The collection has been assembled from several sources. The personal letters at A.6 - A.20 and the note on Geoffrey Milne at A. 21 are the gift of Mrs. M.K. Milne, widow of Geoffrey and sister-in-law of Arthur Milne. The correspondence at D.58 - D.61 is the gift of Professor and Mrs. Theodore Dunham, friends with whom Milne's daughters stayed during the Second World War. The photocopies of letters to H. Davenport at D.53A were made available by Mrs. Anne Davenport . The remainder of the material was assembled and given by Mrs. Margaret (Meggie) Weston-Smith and Miranda Weston-Smith (daughter and grand-daughter), who were also responsible for obtaining the photocopied documents and transcripts at.D.2 = D,50, D.5! =:D.53, Di63=:D.68. OUTLINE OF THE CAREER OF E.A. MILNE Milne was a distinguished mathematician and one of the founders of modern theoretical astrophysics. Educated at Hymers College, Hull, and Trinity College, Cambridge, he became Assistant Director of the Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge (1920), Beyer Professor of Applied Mathematics at Manchester (1925-28) and the first holder of the Other topics on which he wrote and lectured include thermodynamics, three principal phases in Milne's work: atmospheric problems in astrophysics (1920-29), stellar structure (1929-35) and the discovery and development of kinematic relativity Rouse Ball Professorship at Oxford (1928-50). Milne served in both World Wars, on 1916-18 (holding an R.N.V.R. Commission), and for the Ministry of Supply at the Ordnance Board as a 'Key Scientist’ for much of the Second World War (1939-44). ballistics and sound-ranging at the Anti-Aircraft Experimental Station at Portsmouth W.H. McCrea, in his memoir of Milne for the Royal Society, distinguishes (from 1932). E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 statistical mechanics and pulsating stars. An annual Milne lecture was founded under the auspices of Wadham College, Oxford, the first being given in 1978. A fuller account of Milne's career can be found in the memoir by W.H. McCrea, Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, 7, 1950-51, pp.421-443. DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION Milne died suddenly, away from home, in 1950 at the relatively early age of _ fifty-four. He had been twice widowed and had three still young children. In these circumstances there were more urgent tasks than the care of his papers, and the present collection assembled after considerable lapse of time has many gaps. In particular, there is little record of Milne's overseas travel for research and conferences or of his committee and editorial work, while the surviving correspondence, interesting though it is, is clearly no more than a fraction of the original corpus. his work asa young man in the First World War. The letters to Chandrasekhar in Section D, while mainly on technical subjects and especially Milne's growing belief bereavements, and daily struggles. There is clearly to be seen in both these The lecture notes and drafts in Sections B and C indicate the range of Milne's wished. Perhaps the main interest is to be found in the correspondence. The letters sequences of correspondence Milne's deep love for Trinity College, Cambridge, in his theory of kinematic relativity also contain many insights into his family life, to his parents and brother in Section A are revealing of his personality as well as of mathematical and astrophysical interests reasonably well, if not as fully as could be ever he could. whose traditions and ceremonies he accepted wholeheartedly and took part in when- E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 LOCATIONS OF FURTHER MATERIAL A little correspondence remains in family hands. The manuscript of Milne's Edward Cadbury Lectures, ‘Modern Cosmology and the Christian Idea of God', is held in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (Ref.: Add. Ms. a.228). The lectures were to have been given in the University of Birmingham in 1950 but Milne died in September of that year. The manuscript was edited by G.J. Whitrow and published in 1952. Six letters by Milne to Sir Joseph Larmor written between 1930 and 1933 are held in the Royal Society, London. A list of additional locations of letters by and to Milne can be found at D.1. Professor D.G. Kendall, FRS, and Dr. J. Hendry gave helpful advice on the identification and description of some of Milne's notes and drafts. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Professor K. Hufbauer kindly made available his own reference list of locations of additional correspondence now included at D.1. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 SECTION A BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL A.1 - A.21 A.1-A.4 OBITUARY NOTICES AND TRIBUTES A.] Obituary notice by G.J. Whitrow, n.d. 3pp. Photocopy. Memoir by W.H. McCrea (Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, 7, 1950-51). Photocopy. 15pp. typescript draft obituary, by G.J. Whitrow, with ms. additions and notes by A.G. Walker, intended for a joint publication. delay, February 1955. by Walker apologising for Withams. letter Also includes 2pp. incomplete list of Milne's publications, paginated 14 and 15. Letters from colleagues, sent to McCrea as author of Royal Society Obituary Notice, with information and reminiscences of Milne, 1950. L.J. Mordell - Milne's family, and career at Manchester. A.V. Hill - Milne's career in 1914-18 war, and return to Cambridge. E.D. Adrian = on the incidence and effects of Milne's attack of epidemic encephalitis. as a covering letter. 5pp. ms. autobiographical notes by Milne, describing the principal phases of his career and those who had influenced him. The work is dated 25 August 1950 (Milne died on 21 September of that year). Attached to the ms. is an additional short note, perhaps intended Ordnance Board - Milne's work for Board 1939-44. F.J.M. Stratton. PERSONAL AND FAMILY "My philosophy’ E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Biographical and personal Milne's letters to his brother Geoffrey, 1916-17, 1930-40. These are all autograph manuscript, usually dated and often Occasionally only part of the letter survives and The letters include personal and voluminous. this is indicated in the entry. mathematical material and their discursive style gives insight into Milne's personality. Geoffrey Milne (1898-1942) was two years younger than He was educated at Leeds University and served in the Arthur. First World War with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and with the Royal Engineers Sound-ranging Section. Afterwards he became an agricultural scientist with special interest in soil research, working in East Africa and elsewhere on tropical agriculture and soil conservation. his career, published in 1978 by Mrs. Kathleen Milne (widow), from which this information is drawn, is included at A. 21. A short account of 1916 2 letters, one dated 20 May. Includes some reference to the early part of Milne's work with A.V. Hill and R.H. Fowler at Anti-Aircraft Experimental Section, Munitions Inventions Department, though Milne writes that the information should be 'kept squat’. 26 August, addressed from H.M.S. Excellent, 15 July; Milne was commissioned as a Lieutenant R.N.V.R. Letters of July and August describe 1917 1917 24 May; 8, Portsmouth. in order to ensure against his being conscripted and perhaps transferred This fs referred to (to be kept 'perfectly squat’) from his naval work. in letters of 8 and 24 May. ‘stalling turns' and early experience of flying. in view of criticisms by the popular press. Milne's letters of 30 October and 11 November discuss the problems of anti-aircraft defence, and the value of his department's research, 21, 30 October; 11,25 November; 6 December, all from H.M.S. Excellent. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 1930 Biographical and personal 23 March; 5 August; 23 November, from Oxford. Letter of 23 March is 2pp., lacking both beginning and end, and has a note 'To G.M. from E.A.M. 23 March 1930' in the hand of Mrs. K. Milne. — Letter of 23 November is one sheet only. Mainly concerned with Milne's work on stellar structure and his controversy with Eddington. 1931-32 25 January 1931; 10 August, 27 November 1932. Letter of 10 August is last sheet only (numbered 15) of a letter, with a note 'To G.M. 10 August 1932' in the hand of Mrs. K. Milne. Letter of 27 November is from Einstein Institute, Potsdam and lacks the lower half of the last page. Mainly concerned with Milne's work on kinematic relativity. of 27 November gives some account of the Potsdam Institute and Milne was in Germany on a fellowship scientists working there. from the Rockefeller Foundation. Letter 1934-36 13 May, 9 December 1934; 28 July 1935; 10 April 1936. Letter of 13 May is incomplete (2pp. only); incomplete (2pp. only); beginning and end and has a note 'From E.A.M. toG.M. 10th Ap. 1936' in the hand of Mrs. K. Milne. letter of 10 April is Ip. only, lacks letter of 28 July is Letter of 1931 refers to Geoffrey Milne's work at Amani, Tanganyika. old Newton: Letter of 13 May describes controversial meetings of Royal Astro- nomical Society; on 'structure of dynamics'; on the inverse 1937) of which Milne says 'I really think it would have interested letter of 28 July describes Milne's new ideas letter of 19 April refers to his papers square law of gravitation (Proc. Roy. Soc. 160, E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 A.12 1939-40 Biographical and personal 4 September 1939; 3 July, 15 September, 30 October 1940. Letter of 15 September is incomplete (3pp. only). Mainly concerned with the outbreak of the Second World War, air-raids and the departure of Milne's two eldest children, Eleanor and Margaret, to America. Letters of 4 September 1939 and 3 July 1940 are concerned with Beatrice Renwick whom Milne married as his second wife in June 1940 after her adventurous journey from New York through Italy and France during the German advance. Letter to 'George' [Heseltine J. One letter only, 2 February 1917, from H.M.S. Excellent, on research and personnel at Portsmouth. Heseltine was a pilot and apparently a family friend; for references to various flying tests as part of his pilot's training. see A.14 there is an empty envelope at A.19. A.14-A.19 Milne's letters to his parents, 1917-20. Milne seems to have addressed his letters separately to his mother and father, more or less turn and turn about, though the content of the letters does not vary according to the named recipient. Several of the letters are accompanied by the original envelope bearing ams. date; Geoffrey Milne was then stationed. All addressed from H.M.S. Excellent though letter of 9 March refers to work at Orfordness. Milne's father's illness, and the war on the Western Front where Describes flight in ‘Fighting Experimental’ aircraft, 2 March. and research under Fowler with his ‘bristling manner'; also refers to George Heseltine (see A.13). Letters also refer to air defence of London, 1917 1918 9, 17, 28 March. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 1918 Biographical and personal 19 June (from Essex); 25 July (from Portsmouth). 1918 11, 22 September, both from First Army Anti-Aircraft Defences, B.E.F. France. In pencil. General reflections on conditions and the progress of the war. 1919 12 October; 9, 23 November, all from Trinity College, Cambridge. Letter of 12 October describes ceremonies of Milne's election as Fellow of Trinity, offer to him by H.F. Newall of post at Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge personalities, research, etc. Letters of 9 and 23 November describe customs and life at Trinity, mathematical meetings and research with Rutherford, etc. 1920 25 January; 30 April. Cambridge news, details of post at Solar Physics Observatory, teaching, lecturing, research, social occasions. Enclosed here is an empty envelope addressed to Milne's father and postmarked 6 February 1920. Letter to Milne's father, 18 February 1920, from A.V. Hill, expressing his admiration of Milne and his work, and the hope that ‘he will become one of the great scientists of the day'. Note on the career and publications of G. Milne, by Kathleen Milne, 1978. Offprint from Geographers: Bibliographical Studies, published by the International Geographical Union Commission on the History of Geographical Thought and the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science. ‘Geoffrey Milne 1898-1942' E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 SECTION B LECTURES AND PAPERS B.1 - B.10 is Milne's notes of lectures he attended in Cambridge in 1919; B.2-B.10 are B.1 his own lectures and papers. B.1 —In Red notebook of lectures attended by Milne in Cambridge. his letters home (see especially A.18) he writes that he attends lectures whenever his own work permits. The book includes: ‘Chapman. some corrections and additions in pencil). Kinetic Theory of Gases. May Term 1919" (with ‘Darwin on Theory of Quanta. Cavendish Lab.' "Debye. Degrees of freedom in elastic vibrations of a solid' (Perhaps a single visiting lecture by Debye.) "Stratton on Series in Line-spectra' "Darwin on Bohr's Theory' "J.J. [Thomson ] Positive Rays' (Pages left blank. ) There is a bibliography, an outline of ten 'The Physics of Stellar Atmosphere 1923' The pages are numbered, but not always in order, and there are several pages of additional material to be incorporated dated 1924, 1925, as well as many intercalated pages. Milne's original folder for a ‘research course’ of lectures intended to cover twoterms. topics to be studied, examples and problems to be used, etc. See also B.3. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Lectures and papers ‘Addendum to the paper "The temperature in the outer atmosphere ore star” . (Communicated by the Director of the Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge. ) App. typescript draft, with a ms. note by Milne at head,' July 1922. Never published. The 'addendum' is to Milne's paper of the same title published in Mon. Not. R. Astr. Soc., 82, 1922. ?Not worth it'. This item was originally tucked into the folder of lecture notes of; 2. 'The relations of mathematics to science’ Ms. draft for paper, probably for a Cambridge audience (perhaps Trinity College), n.d. 33pp. (with intercalated p.8a), and sequence paginated a-! of Milne's translation of selected passages from Bergson. ‘Radiation Theory and Astrophysical Applications’ Volume |, pp.1-139, with a few intercalated pages and additional notes in pencil. 2 black spring-back binders, Volumes | and II for an extended course of lectures under the slightly different title 'Radiation Theory and its Applications in Astrophysics'. Volume II, pp.140-269, with a title page headed 'Second Term'. Some references dated 1922. Inserted between pp. 225 and 226 is a 5pp. ms. paper by Milne 'Note on the evolution of the stars’. Addendum pp.187a, 187b is dated February 1923. See C.3. on different format paper) There is an index (perhaps added later, of topics, some described as 'very important', 'important and very difficult', etc. are no longer in the folder. The index goes up to p.128 but the last pages Black spring-back notebook 'Lecture Notes on Thermodynamics' Ms. notes for a course of lectures described as 'Schedule B', pp.1-102a. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Lectures and papers 'The aims of mathematical physics'. 1929. (Milne's Inaugural Lecture, Oxford. ) Offprint of published text. Uncut. 'The White Dwarf Stars' Essay submitted for the Johnson Memorial Prize, 1931. 96pp., mainly ms. draft and diagrams; some typed pages. In his covering letter Milne (‘The Candidate') requests the return of the text and diagrams ‘as they constitute original work of which | have no copy’. The ms. is in the folder as received, which bears a variety of dates and descriptions. 'The white dwarf stars' (The Halley Lecture, given May 1932 and published that year by the Clarendon Press.) 50pp. typescript with ms. corrections and additions, in black spring-back folder. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 SECTION C NOTES AND DRAFTS C.1 - C.58 INTRODUCTION TO SECTION C Gor G7 THERMODYNAMICS C.28 -C.51 STATISTICAL MECHANICS C,52 = C.57 RELATIVITY 98 MILNE'S STATISTICAL PROBLEM These are undated sequences for lectures and papers, some belonging to the Cambridge period and probably contemporary with the material at B.5 - B.7 (see especially C.3) but with later additions and updatings. The material was received grouped under the three main headings of thermo- statistical problem posed by Milne. Some sequences of notes are paginated by Milne, others were clipped together necessarily correspond to their original state. Item C.58 is a later analysis of a and have been retained in Milne's order. Sometimes he used the backs of examina- it is clear from Milne's descriptive titles for some of his notes that they no longer dynamics, statistical mechanics and relativity and these have been retained, though and later work are usually on smaller format paper. tion scripts or class exercises for his notes, but much of the material is written on the cream-laid large quarto paper used for the 1920s lectures. Additional pages E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Notes and drafts Care a7 THERMODYNAMICS Various sequences of notes and narratives, undated, the majority probably from the 1920s when Milne was working on atmospheric problems in astrophysics. The material was mainly intended for lectures and class problems but also in part for Milne's article 'Thermodynamics of the Stars' published as part of the Handbuch der Astrophysik (Berlin, 1930), or for other published work. Milne continued to lecture and publish on stellar thermodynamics throughout the 1930s, revising and up- dating his material accordingly. All the sequences, and the titles or opening phrases below, are Milne's. Cr "Pure Thermodynamics' Bibliography and introductory remarks for a course of Spp. lectures (latest quoted date 1933). Extensive sequence of notes and narratives, with pencil additions and revisions, paginated 1-54 witha later intercalated sequence at np, aay It seems likely that ‘On the Second Law of Thermodynamics. By E.A. Milne' 7pp. Three sequences of notes and examples on 'simple substance’. Extensive sequence of notes and narratives, paginated 92, 92.1 headed 'to be published sometime’, and with a pencil note 'N.B. This is rather a swagger proof ...' and 108a-128 some also headed "Publish sometime', ‘replaced ...', etc. these are the pages missing from B.7. paginated 1-3, 35-38, 63-64. Sequence paginated '61.1' - '64.4' and 2pp. related, referring to work of Gibb. Three sequences’on ‘Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances’, E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 C.8 'The rdle of friction in thermodynamics' Notes and drafts "Properties of Thermodynamic Functions' ‘Electrolytic Cell ...' ‘Porous Plug Experiment, pp.1-5, la, 2a. "Brief account of the classical thermodynamics', variously paginated (later addition). 'Clausius', Ip. 'A mathematical treatment of chemical equilibrium', 23pp. "Conditions of equilibrium ... "The Phase Rule' ‘Complex of two phases in equilibrium’ 'Semi-permeable membranes’ ‘Partial potential of a perfect gas', witha ms. note 'Second Term' (early work). Two sequences of notes on vapour pressure (early work). ‘Mixture of perfect gases', pp.1-4 with ms. revisions and inter- calated pages. Three sequences of notes, and solutions to problems, on osmotic pressure. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Cree Three sequences of notes on vapour pressure (later work). Notes and drafts Cane "Freezing point of a solution’ Coe "Thermodynamic Equilibrium in an External Field of Force' Cio 'Dissociated Equilibrium in gaseous mixtures', pp. 1-66. S20 'The Nernst Theorem and its Applications', pp.1-14. C.23-C.26 are all on same format paper, show similar features of handwriting, and! may have been written at the same time. Cie7 Miscellaneous problems and solutions in thermodynamics, one headed 'Special hard question. Original’. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Notes and drafts C.28-C. 51 STATISTICAL MECHANICS All this material was received crammed into Milne's original folder inscribed 'Notes on Statistical Mechanics'. It consists mainly of notes for courses of lectures at various dates, probably all at Oxford; C.28 is early (¢.1928), much of C.29 et seq are later (c.1937). There are also analytical notes on earlier theories, presented here alphabetically for convenience, with Milne's comments or re-workings, and some longer narratives for lectures or publications. Bibliography and introductory note on 'Fundamentals of the New Statistics’. "Introductory Lecture’, pp.1-9, preceded by 2pp. note on 'My difficulties in beginning and preparing the course', and Ip. Bibliography, heavily annotated, with outline of course. date quoted 1936; work is discussed in the ms. notes and drafts. most of the authors listed are those whose Latest Einstein-Bose statistics. ‘Classical statistical mechanics for ideal gas'. Draft for lecture or paper, 26pp. Probably given at Mathematical Institute, Oxford, 1937. Unpaginated (13pp.) sequence of notes on 'classical' and 'new' statistics, with ms. note at head ‘Important Ms.'. Three sequences of notes (perhaps later). Two sequences of notes on Boltzmann's hypothesis, 5pp. and 8pp. Two sequences of notes (perhaps earlier work). E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Notes and drafts Fermi-Dirac statistics. Three sequences of notes. Also included here is an offprint of Milne's paper 'The dissociation formula according to the Fermi-Dirac statistics’ (Mon. Not. R. Astr. Soc., 90, 1930). C.36 Notes on R.H. Fowler's theories. C.37-C.42 Extensive notes on the work of J. Willard Gibb. Craz C.38 Cin? C.40 'Notes on Gibb! Statistical Mechanics', paginated 1-62, with several intercalated pages. "Notes from Gibb' ‘Criticism of Gibb' "Notes from Haas' comments on Gibb', paginated 1-36 numbered pages. + 4 un- 'Brillouin's account of the passage to Gibb', paginated 1-8. "Notes from Pannekoek', paginated 1-22. Notes on J. Woltjer, 4pp. C.41 C.42 C.43 C.44 "Notes from Lorentz' with a note 'To be inserted after notes on Haas’, paginated 1-12. Three sequences of notes on Planck, and comparison of his work with Einstein-Bose statistics, 4pp., Ilpp., 7pp. mechanics. Two sequences of notes on 'Dissociative Equilibrium', 7pp. (perhaps early work), 3pp. (perhaps later). Five sequences of notes on ‘relativistic’ and ‘non-relativistic’ E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Notes and drafts C.48 ‘Vapour pressure equation derivation', 4pp. (perhaps early work). ‘Entropy formula’ (perhaps early work). "Motion of systems and ensembles ...' (perhaps early work). Two sequences of untitled notes. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 C.S2=C.57 RELATIVITY Notes and drafts None of the material is dated, though W.H. McCrea (Obituary Notices ... 1950-51, p.435) describes Milne's work on ‘kinematic relativity’ as "his predominant scientific interest from 1932 onwards". ©.52 is a draft for a paper apparently intended for publication; C.53-C.57 are sequences of notes and problems, probably for lectures. 'On Inertial Frames. By E.A. Milne' l4pp. ms.; 1934, 1935. latest references quoted are Milne's and McCrea's, "Example in relativity’, 3pp. ‘Example in special relativity’, 3pp. ‘Lorentz transformations’, 3pp. ‘Material Energy-tensor', 5pp., annotated and revised. Photocopy of draft article by D.R. Cox and Agnes M. Herzberg, published in Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 331, 1972. 'Easy example ...', 3pp. MILNE'S STATISTICAL PROBLEM 'On a statistical problem by E.A. Milne' E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 SECTION D CORRESPONDENCE D.1 - D.70 INTRODUCTION TO SECTION D The surviving correspondence is regrettably scanty. Attention is drawn to D.1, an itemised list of letters to and from Milne now located in other manuscript collections; this was compiled, and kindly made available, by Professor K. Hufbauer, University of California, Irvine. The extensive folders of letters to S. Chandrasekhar at D.2- D.50 and D.51 - D.53 consist of photocopies from the originals in the Chandrasekhar archives deposited at the Joseph Regenstein Library, Chicago, and typed transcripts made by Miranda Weston-Smith. Similar photocopied material appears at D.62 - D.68, from originals at Churchill College, Cambridge, and at D.53A. Compiled and made available for the present Chandrasekhar, S. 1929-50 and 1933-76 D.2-D.50 is a chronological sequence of photocopies and typed List of letters to and from Milne in various manuscript collections in Britain, Norway, U.S.A., 1925-39, 3pp. +1p. source collections. collection by K. Hufbauer. Continued transcripts often leave space for the insertion of technical terms or formulae letters from Chandrasekhar, at D.16, D.24, D.43. D.45, D.47, D.49. transcripts (two copies) of Milne's contribution to an extensive exchange of sequence and this is indicated in the entries. Exceptionally, there are also which are of course present in the letters. There are also many errors of trans- letters and postcards 1929-50. Occasionally, letters to others occur in the cription of technical terms, proper names, and of ordinary manuscript readings. The transcripts and photocopies are not exact duplicates: see D.6, D.8, D.21, D.23 for material occurring in one form and not the other. The E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Correspondence The transcripts should always be checked against Milne's original as preserved in the photocopies. The communications are frequent and often voluminous. The content is primarily research problems and publications or visits and lectures, generally somewhat formally expressed and dry in tone. From about 1939, with the heavy pressure on Milne of war-work, life in London, the care of his family, the loss of his second wife, brother and several old colleagues, he became less reserved and spoke more freely of his circumstances. The simple family life of the Milnes, and their joyful pleasure in the gifts (usually food) sent by Chandrasekhar, are touching, especially in contrast with the wholly abstract problems of Milne's professional life. Most of Milne's letters are signed 'E.A. Milne'; later he relaxed to 'E. Arthur Milne’ or occasionally ‘Arthur Milne', and addressed his letters to ‘My dear Chandrasekhar' or 'Dear Chandra’ and his Christmas letters 'Dear Chandra and Lalitha’. D.51-D.53 is a separate sequence (transcripts only) of personal cor- 1930 D.2 1929 Milne, 1933-76. Photocopy and transcripts. respondence, principally of letters to Chandrasekhar from Margaret and Eleanor One item only, comment (unfavourable) on a paper by Milne. Not signed. er One letter only, 2 November. Photocopy and transcript. AS AGG ROTA ALB RAEI {AB vee hea va AN fA BIRAR PRIMERA gon 9 py: 14> 1 | aR FS PHAR I RE RE 1 2) vm Riv 4 AA JAH E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 D.4 1931 (1) Correspondence 7, 13, 16, 29 January 12, 16, 17, 22, 27, 28 February 3, 7 March Photocopies. Transcripts. 1931 (2) 13 April Undated letter addressed from Manchester. letter has a ms. note ‘Between 5.5.31. and 13.4.31' (where the letter now rests), but letter of 17 June mentions that Milne is 'off to Manchester tomorrow'. The typescript of this 5, 7 May Transcripts. 1931 (3) 11 (2 letters), Photocopies. 17, 26, 27, 30 June 18, 16, 30 October Lacks the first letter of 11 June. 19, 29 (followed by Ip. undated 'Notes by E.A.M.'), is likely that two or more originals have been conflated. letter of 19 October differs considerably from the photo- Transcripts; copy and it 19, 24 November 5, 14, 18, 9 December Photocopies. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Correspondence 1932 (1) 2, 24, 29, 30 January 26 February. Letter of 13 February is toR.H. Fowler 13, 24, about arrangements for Chandrasekhar to work with Milne in Oxford. visit to Potsdam later in the year and the suggestion that Chandrasekhar might go too (he did not). Letter of 26 February contains first mention of Milne's Photocopies. Transcripts. 1932 (2) 6, 9 (2 letters), 17, 18 March 19 June Photocopies. 1932 (3) 1 3 November Transcripts. Photocopies. (2 letters), 7 October These letters are all addressed from Potsdam. Transcripts. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Correspondence 1933 (1) 18 January (includes Milne's proposal of Chandrasekhar as 10, Fellow, Royal Astronomical Society. 25 March 3 (from Chandrasekhar), 16 May Photocopies. Transcripts. 1933 (2) 7, 17 June 25 July (long letter on research problem on Cepheid stars which Milne hoped Chandrasekhar would tackle during a proposed visit, to work in Oxford). 5, 8, 19 August 16 October. Transcripts. 1934 15 November 20 December Photocopies. 10 (on Chandrasekhar's election to Fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge), 12, Continued 27 September (long letter, mainly on Milne's theories of cosmology) 16, 23 February 11, 19 October 5, 10 March E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Correspondence D.20 Cont'd. n.d. (‘Tuesday’) 12, 25 December Photocopies. Transcripts. 16 October not included at D.20. Includes transcript of an additional letter of 1935 24 February 13 June 11, 14 October 16 November Photocopies. 1936 Photocopies. Transcripts. not included at D.22. Includes transcript of an additional letter, 30 June, 15, 20, 31 May 13 December 2, 14 November 25, 26 (from Chandrasekhar), 27 April Transcripts. Some of these letters include a little more personal material than Letter of 31 May refers to Milne's shyness, and to his usual. love of Trinity College, Cambridge; letters of November and December to Chandrasekhar's marriage, and move to Chicago. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Corresponde nce 1937 7 January 20 April 23 May 26 December Photocopies. Transcripts. 1938 5 November 26 December Both letters refer to the death of Milne's first wife, Margaret (‘Margot'). 1939 25, 28 June 3 July 13 October Photocopies and transcripts. 25 January 18 February 30 March 29 May Photocopies. Several of these letters refer to the threat of war and Milne's engagement in war work. in the First World War ‘doing the same type of work, with partly the same colleagues’. Letter of 13 October recalls his service E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 D.30 Transcripts. Correspondence 1940 15 January 8 July (refers to Milne's second marriage to Beatrice Renwick after her ‘thrilling and difficult journey! to reach Britain, and the departure of Eleanor and Margaret Milne to Canada and U.S.) 15 September 27 November (includes description of the installation of Trevelyan as Master of Trinity). Photocopies. Transcripts. 1941 4 November 30 December 28 February 14 August Includes reflections on war-work, conditions of life, Milne's Royal Medal, etc. Photocopy and transcript. One letter only, 30 December Phot oc opies . Transcripts. 1942 E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Correspondence 1943 6 July 3 November Photocopies and transcripts. 1944 20 January 15 March (Chandrasekhar's election to Fellowship of the Royal Society; death of Newall) 8 May 2 September (flying-bomb damage to Milne's London house and the family's return to Oxford; death of R.H. Fowler). Photocopies. Transcripts. 10 Oct ober 1945 15 April 27 June Mainly concerned with the illness, and death in August, of Milne's second wife Beatrice; also the return from America of Eleanor and Margaret. Photocopies. 8 June (2 copies) Photocopies. 29 December Transcripts. 1946 22 February E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Correspondence Transcripts. 1947 2 (from Chandrasekhar), 19 June (describes quatercentenary cele- brations at Trinity). 15, 28 (from Chandrasekhar) July 6, 18 (from Chandrasekhar) August 16 September 7 (from Chandrasekhar), 28 November (includes a rare reference to the ‘unfortunate palsy', i.e. tremor, resulting from Milne's attack in 1923 of epidemic encephalitis whose late after-effects began to afflict him more perceptibly from 1945. Photocopies. Transcripts. 1948 20 March 3 May 5 January (dated 1947 in error) 27 April (from Chandrasekhar) 10 (from Chandrasekhar), 20 August Transcripts. 18 December Photocopies. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Correspondence 1949 15 March (from Chandrasekhar) 18,19 July (2 letters on 19 July). by C. Prasad. Includes material re a paper 1, 2 (from Chandrasekhar) September 29 October 13 (from Chandrasekhar), 14, 23, 26 December Photocopies. Transcripts. 1950 14 January 25 February 11 September (envelope only) n.d. letter from Margaret (Meggie) Milne about her father's death (on 20 September). 14 October (from Chandrasekhar to W.H. McCrea with recollections of Milne and extracts from some of the letters). letter from M. Dunham. Includes letters from Margot Milne, two letters from Milne (8 September 1935, 10 August 1936), and a note and press-cutting on the death of Margot Milne 1938. Transcripts, 1940-45. Mainly letters from Meggie and Eleanor Milne but includes Photocopies. Transcripts. Transcripts of letters to Chandrasekhar, 1933-38. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Uae. Transcripts, 1950-56, 1975, 1976. Correspondence Letters exchanged between Meggie and Eleanor Milne and Chandrasekhar, re meetings, personal news, etc. Davenport, H. 1926-27, 1945 These are photocopies of letters from Milne to Davenport, made available by Mrs. A. Davenport in 1984, and with some transcriptions by her of illegible and technical terms. Letters of 1926-27 refer to the award to Davenport of a scholarship at Trinity College, and his work for the Cambridge Tripos after his graduation from Manchester University where he had been a pupil of Milne, C. Walmsley and L.J. Mordell. Dingle, H. various dates 1930-51 and publications are written to him in that capacity. D.54 1930 Letter of 1945 refers to work of contemporary mathematicians. Mainly scientific correspondence from Milne on his theories of - stellar interiors and his controversy with Eddington. Dingle was Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society 1929-32 and many of the letters re meetings 5 letters, June-September. 6 letters, July-December. Letter of 1 August refers to Milne's re-casting of his Bakerian Lecture in response to criticisms from Eddington (Obituary Notices, p.431). 193] E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Corresponde nce 1941-45 4 letters. subjects; 1951 Letters of 1941, 1943, 1944 are on mathematical letter of 1945 is on the death of Beatrice Milne. Correspondence with Clarendon Press, Oxford, re Milne's Cadbury Lectures ‘Modern Cosmology and the Christian Idea of God the Creator'. published 1952. Includes Dingle's 4pp. report on the ms., which was D.58-D.61 Dunham, T. and Dunham, M. 1929-47 Mainly letters from Milne to Dunham and his wife. Dunham was an American astronomer and a friend of Milne from 1929. He and his wife Miriam were hosts to Milne's daughters Eleanor and Margaret from July 1940 to August 1945. The letters are numbered 1-13, and were given, along with the photocopies, by Dr. and Mrs. Dunham in 1979. D.58 Item 4 is a formal note on the 11 July 1930 24 May 1939 10 November, 25 December 1929 Letters, 1929-39, numbered 1-5. death of Margaret Milne. Letters, 1940-47, numbered 6-13, addressed to both Theodore and Miriam Dunham. Mainly about Milne's children and family affairs. 1, 29 January 1941 8, 31 October 1945 30 December 1946 25 March 1947 17 August, 29 October 1940 E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Corresponde nce Photocopies of the letters, some with typed transcripts. to copy of Milne's letter of 1 January 1941 is a copy of a letter from D.R. Pye to A.V. Hill about Dunham's wish to join the R.A.F. to help the British war effort. | Attached Also enclosed are some of the original censored war-time envelopes. Letter from Dunham to R.A. Lyttelton and N. Hetherington explaining his family's connection with Milne and the origin of the letters, 1 December 1979. Also included here are two copies of a list and summary of the letters. Eliezer, C.J; Milne's pap papers on Rational Electrodynamics. y 1) .63-D.68 Hill, A.V. 1918-50, 1955 Photocopies of correspondence and papers made from the original Mainly from documents held in Churchill College, Cambridge. Milne. PRIN RH A or Ye a NN Ne 1934-35 1938-46 (mainly war-work). 1926-29 (marriage, research, move to Oxford). 1918 (from Hill), 1919-21 (includes letters from Milne's father to Hill thanking him for his help with Milne's career, and letter from Milne on his father's death). Letter 1955 from Meggie Weston-Smith (née Milne). = roe «fA Correspondence, 1950-51, between Hill and W.H. McCrea with recollections of Milne. 1950 (one letter only, and recollections of service in First World War). 10 June, describing visit to Whale Island Miscellaneous pages of calculations by Milne and Hill E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 Correspondence Papers about the 'Brigands' (humorous society of the Anti- Aircraft Research Establishment in First World War). Hubble, E. Mevittia, Go C; Pannekoek, A. Richmond, H. W. Ross, G 52s Recollections of Richmond. White; Ff. Py Recollections of Richmond. E.A. Milne CSAC 102/6/84 INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS ADRIAN, Edgar Douglas, Baron CHANDRASEKHAR, Subramanyan DAVENPORT, Harold DINGLE, Herbert DUNHAM, Miriam DUNHAM, Theodore ELIEZER: Cosas, FOWLER, Sir Ralph Howard HILL, Archibald Vivian HUBBLE, Edwin WEMITIIESRS . 7S. MORDELL, Louis Joel A.4 D.2-D.53 See D.53A_ See D.54-D.57 D 52 See also D.58-D. 61 See D.58-D.61 D.62 See D.10, D.38 A.4, A.20 See also D.63-D. 68 D.69 D.69 A.4 PANNEKOEK, A. RO so, toe D.69 D .47 D.70 D.70 AC A.3 WHITE, F. _——Puryer PRASAD, Chandrika WALKER, Arthur Geoffrey RICHMOND, Herbert William STRATTON, Frederick John Marrian D.70
MILNE, Edward Arthur v1
Published: 20 November, 2023 Author: admin