Collection ID: C472
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Gest, Howard
Abstract:
Howard Gest was a professor of Microbiology and an adjunct professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University who specialized in microbial psychology and metabolism. The collection consists of Gest's published work, research notes, correspondence and his teaching and lecturing notes during his tenure at Indiana University.
Extent:
32 cubic feet (32 boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English
Preferred citation:

[Item], Howard Gest papers, Collection C472, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

Born in London, England in 1921, Howard Gest and his family moved to the United States in 1922. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in bacteriology from the University of California, Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.) in 1942, and his Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1949. While at Washington University, Gest completed his graduate work as the first student of Martin Kamen, a pioneer nuclear chemist renowned as the co-discoverer of carbon 14.

During World War II, Dr. Gest worked on the Manhattan Project where he did research on the radioactive elements formed in uranium fission. During that time, Gest also signed a petition drafted by fellow scientist Leo Szilard urging President Harry Truman to demonstrate the power of the bomb to the world and give Japan an opportunity to surrender before it was used. Following his involvement with the Manhattan Project, he returned to his study of microbiology, primarily researching bacterial photosynthesis. Dr. Gest held positions at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Washington University before coming to Indiana University.

Gest began his career at IU in 1966 as a Professor of Microbiology and held that position until 1978. During this this time he also served as Department Chair, 1966-1970. In 1978 he became a Distinguished Professor of Microbiology. In 1983 he was appointed an adjunct professor with the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. Upon his retirement, Dr. Gest became a Professor Emeritus of Microbiology in 1987.

In the years following his retirement from laboratory research, Gest focused on the history of science, with particular emphasis on the under-appreciated contributions of the English scientist Robert Hooke, with respect to microscopy and other aspects of microbiology. Gest was also a frequent contributor to Microbe. During a remarkable 70-year scientific career, Gest published more than 300 papers and books including The World of Microbes (1987, republished 2003) and co-editing the 1,300-page Discoveries in Photosynthesis (2006).

Dr. Gest died on April 24, 2012.

Scope and Content:

The Biographical series, 1969-2011, is a collection of material dealing with Dr. Gest's accomplishments and public recognition throughout his career as well as biographical information about him. The series also includes autobiographical manuscripts.

The Publications series, 1942-2012, is arranged chronologically within each of the six sub-series (Articles, Published letters, Book reviews, Books, Self-Published, and Unpublished). This arrangement is dictated by a publication number assigned by Howard Gest himself. A list of his publications found online: http://hdl.handle.net/2022/13890. (Not all publications have a publication number.) The first sub-series, Articles, is a collection of most of the articles he had written over the course of his career. Published letters consist of the letters he had written to professional publications to address topics he felt needed to be discussed in the microbiology profession. Book reviews consist of book reviews written by Gest while the Books sub-series consists of books that Gest either wrote or edited. The Self-Published sub-series contains copies of publications that he had submitted to IU Scholar Works for publication, mostly discussing Gest's view on

The Research notes series spans the years 1975 to 2012. It consists of notes and research gathered by Gest over the course of his career and is further arranged into six sub-series: By Publication, For Unpublished Articles, By Topic, General Research, Researchers' Biography/Bibliography, and Green Bacteria. By Publications is arranged by Howard Gest

The Correspondence series, 1942-2012, is organized into two sub-series. The first, By Topic/Person contains correspondence arranged alphabetically by topic discussed in the letters or the other person with whom Howard Gest was communicating. The second sub-series, General Correspondence, is arranged by the date span of the material in the folder.

The Lectures & presentations series covers the years 1951-2009 and contains notes, research, and other materials related to conferences and lectures that Dr. Gest attended or gave. Within the series the folders are arranged chronologically. The material is arranged by location of the conference or talk. There is also a subseries with presentation abstracts and conference programs. The subseries is arranged chronologically and by place.

The Notebooks series, 1941-2007, contain notes on conferences and talks that Gest had attended as well as researched. They are arranged chronologically by the date range of the notes contained in the notebooks.

The Teaching series, 1967-1995, is a collection of material from his time teaching at IU as well as instances when he guest-lectured in a class. It is arranged by the class that the material was for. The classes covered include L104, L270, M200, M525, and M615.

The Subject files series, 1968-2009, is a collection of material related to Dr. Gest's professional career as a chemist and researcher. The series was arranged by Howard Gest and is ordered alphabetically.

The Audiovisual series, 1962-2007, contains audiocassette tapes, compact discs, and an unlabeled floppy disk. The tapes are copies of a lecture on biochemistry; the CD contains a lecture on the history of microbiology/biochemistry.

Acquisition information:
Accessions 2012/119, 2012/014, 2011/059, 2008/005, 2007/157, 2007/139, 2005/122, 2005/061
Custodial history:

Transferred by Howard Gest between 2005 and 2012.

Processing information:

Processed by Luke Thompson and Alessandro Meregaglia.

Completed in 11 March 2015

Arrangement:

This collection is organized into nine series: Publications, Research notes, Correspondence, Lectures & presentations, Notebooks, Teaching, Subject files, Biographical, and Audiovisual.

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

Collection is open for research. Advance notice is required for access to the collection.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

The donor(s) of this collection have transferred their copyrights for the materials to the Trustees of Indiana University through a Deed of Gift. For more information, please contact the Indiana University Archives staff.

The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyrights for non-university records, materials in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility for the determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these materials that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.

Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University Archivist.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Howard Gest papers, Collection C472, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
Herman B Wells Library E460
1320 East Tenth Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-7000, United States
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
812-855-1127
archives@indiana.edu