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Otto Loewi Laboratory Notebooks and Correspondence

 Collection
Identifier: MS C 132

Abstract

Contains laboratory notebooks, correspondence, and a copy of his autobiographical sketch.

Dates

  • 1944-1960

Extent

0.42 Linear Feet (1 box)

Creator

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English and German

Restrictions

Collection is not restricted. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

NLM does not possess copyright to the collection. Archival collections often contain mixed copyrights; while NLM is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. It is the user's responsibility to research and understand any applicable copyright and re-publication rights not allowed by fair use. NLM does not grant permissions to publish.

Privacy Information

Archives and manuscript collections may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in any collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications for which the National Library of Medicine assumes no responsibility.

Biographical Note

In 1936 Otto Loewi and Sir Henry Hallet Dale were awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine for their discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses. Only two years later he was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. Forced to hand over his share of the Nobel Prize money as ransom for his life, Loewi escaped to England without a penny to his name. In June 1940, armed with a doctor's certificate proclaiming his - "senility... not able to earn a living!" Loewi reached the United States to discover the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts. During the summers he augmented his study of cells, their structure and how they function in relation to each other. As a permanent research professor at New York University College of Medicine, Loewi illustrated how a great mind honed on the classics could perceive scientific truths that might otherwise have been overlooked.

Collection Summary

Contains laboratory notebooks, 1944-1952, from the period when Loewi was a researcher at the New York University College of Medicine and a copy of his autobiographical sketch, 1960, which was originally printed in Perspectives in Biology and Medicine vo. IV, no. 1. Correspondents are Arnold S.V. Burgen and Henry R. Viets.

Abstract

Contains laboratory notebooks, correspondence, and a copy of his autobiographical sketch.

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Provenance

Gift, Peter Olch, 1967.

General

Processed by
HMD staff; Jim Labosier
Processing Completed
1968; 2003
Encoded by
Jim Labosier
Title
Finding Aid to the Otto Loewi Laboratory Notebooks and Correspondence 1944-1960
Status
Unverified Partial Draft
Author
HMD staff; Jim Labosier
Date
1968; 2003
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English
Edition statement
1.0

Collecting Area Details

Part of the Archives and Modern Manuscripts Collection Collecting Area

Contact:
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