Papers of Stanley Smith Stevens, 1931-1973
Overview
Stanley Smith Stevens (1906-1973) was a physicist and professor at Harvard University. He was an authority on the physics of sensory perception, especially hearing. He was director of the Psycho-Acoustics Laboratory and the Psychophysics Laboratory at Harvard. This collection documents Stevens' research and professional activities.
Dates
- Creation: 1931-1973
Creator
Language of Materials
English.
Restrictions on Use of Collection
The Papers of Stanley Smith Stevens are open for research.
Extent
9.4 cubic feet (28 boxes and 2 folders)These papers document the professional work of Stanley Smith Stevens. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence. The correspondence documents Stevens' research, teaching, and consulting activities. Letters concern publishing and scientific societies, Harvard Psychology Department business, Harvard committee work, consulting, and lecturing. Correspondence with colleagues and students, and a small amount of personal correspondence is included. This collection also contains student notes for psychology courses taken by Stevens at Harvard in early 1930s, manuscripts and notes for speeches, data in the form of tables and graphs, and reprints.
Biography of Stanley Smith Stevens
Stanley Smith Stevens (1906-1973) was a physicist and professor at Harvard University. He was Stevens was an authority on the physics of sensory perception, especially hearing. His primary contribution was Stevens' Law, which states that the magnitude of a sensation grows as a power function of the intensity of the stimulus. He was director of the Psycho-Acoustics Laboratory and the Psychophysics Laboratory at Harvard.
Organization of Collection
- Correspondence
- Research
- Professional Organizations
- Georg Von Békésy
Provenance and Acquisition Information
Gift of Geraldine Stevens.
Accession 7354 May 9, 1974.
Accession 7375 June 17, 1974
Accession 7544 February 20, 1975
Accession 8064 March 1, 1977.
Inventory update
This document last updated 2018 April 11.
Processing Information
These records were processed by staff in the Harvard University Archives probably prior to 1985. The finding aid was encoded at the American Institute of Physics and revised to conform to Harvard University guidelines.
Creator
Subject
- Stevens, S.S. (Stanley Smith), 1906-1973. (Person)
- Skinner, B.F. (Burrhus Frederic), 1904-1990 (Person)
- Ross, Strange. (Person)
- Von Békésy, Georg, 1899-1972. (Person)
- American Psychological Association. (Organization)
- Acoustical Society of America. (Organization)
- American Physiological Society (1887) (Organization)
- National Research Council (U.S.) (Organization)
- National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Organization)
- University of Hawaii. (Organization)
- Harvard University -- Psychology (Organization)
- Harvard University -- Faculty (Organization)
- Title
- Stevens, S. S. (Stanley Smith), 1906-1973. Papers of Stanley Smith Stevens : an inventory
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Harvard University Archives
- Date
- Published in 2000
- Language of description
- und
- Sponsor
- This finding aid has been encoded by the Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics as part of a collaborative project supported by a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities, an independent federal agency. Collaboration members in 1999 consisted of: American Institute of Physics, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Rice University, University of Alaska, University of Illinois, and University of Texas.
- EAD ID
- hua07005
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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