Series 1: Personal and Biographical, 1950-2004

Although this series offers few primary accounts of Axelrod's early life and career, secondary biographical sketches and articles cover much of his scientific activities throughout the late 1970s. Just like the Professional Activities series, this series only has a small sampling of materials from Axelrod's career during the late-1980s and 1990s. Still, these materials give the researcher good information on Axelrod's entire career, specifically his laboratory work and discoveries, and his winning the Nobel Prize in 1970, which is also documented in the Nobel Prize and Other Awards series.

The first subseries contains biographical materials and essays about Axelrod; writings by Axelrod, including his 1968 book on the Pineal Gland, are found in the Writings and Publications series. The second subseries contains numerous articles and clippings devoted to Axelrod at various stages in his life and career. The final subseries of miscellaneous materials includes two folders of clippings that cover some of the political issues with which Axelrod became involved following his 1970 receipt of the Nobel Prize, as well as some personal correspondence and materials relating to close colleagues.