Papers of Norris Watson Rakestraw (1895-1982), marine chemist and professor of chemistry at Brown University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Rakestraw was known for his research into the chemical composition of seawater and the role of organic matter in seawater. The collection includes correspondence, laboratory notebooks, writings, research materials, images and sound recordings.
Norris W. Rakestraw Papers, 1917-1983 (SMC 161)
Extent: 3 Linear feet (3 records cartons, 1 oversize folder)
Digital Content
Sound recordings in this collection have been digitized, and are available upon request.
Norris Watson Rakestraw was born January 16, 1895 in Toledo, Ohio. He attended Stanford University where he received his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in chemistry from 1916 to 1921. He was employed as a chemistry instructor at Stanford from 1919 to 1925, and served in the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service from 1923 to 1924. He spent a year each teaching at the California State Teacher's College in San Jose and Oberlin College, and then was appointed assistant professor of chemistry at Brown University in 1926. Rakestraw also worked as a research associate at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution during the summers from 1931 to 1946. During 1933 to 1934, he visited European oceanographic stations and reported on their marine research. Rakestraw held a pilot's license, and served as a wing commander for the Rhode Island Wing of the Civil Air Patrol during World War II.
Rakestraw continued as an associate and full professor at Brown University until 1946, when he moved to Scripps Institution of Oceanography as professor of chemistry and head of the chemical oceanography department. He also served as acting director of SIO from 1952 to 1953, and dean of graduate studies at the University of California, San Diego from 1960 to 1965. After retiring from SIO as professor emeritus in 1965, he returned to Europe to work for two years as foreign liaison officer and scientific advisor to the London Branch of the Office of Naval Research and the Naval Research Laboratory.
One of the pioneer marine chemists in the United States, Rakestraw was known for his research into the chemical composition of seawater and the role of organic matter in seawater, as well as for his teaching of chemistry. Rakestraw served as chair of the New England Association of Chemistry Teachers, president of the Pacific Southwest Association of Chemistry Teachers, and editor of the Journal of Chemical Education for the American Chemical Society from 1940 to 1955. His awards include the Scientific Apparatus Makers Award and the James Flack Norris Award, both from the American Chemical Society, and Skin Diver magazine's Annual Award for Outstanding Service to Youth in the Field of Oceanography. Norris Rakestraw died on December 3, 1982 in Morongo Valley, California.
Papers of Norris Watson Rakestraw (1895-1982), marine chemist and professor of chemistry at Brown University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Rakestraw was known for his research into the chemical composition of seawater and the role of organic matter in seawater. He was also a principal investigator for the International Geophysical Year 1957-1958 (IGY) geochemistry and CO₂ programs, and the collection contains a research notebook from the related Downwind Expedition and early correspondence with and about fellow carbon dioxide researcher Dr. Charles D. Keeling. The collection includes correspondence, laboratory notebooks, writings, research materials, images and sound recordings.
Arranged in three series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL AND CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS AND RESEARCH, and 3) AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS.