Identity area
Identifier
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Wolfgang Pauli Archive
Other form(s) of name
Type
Contact area
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Description area
History
The Wolfgang Pauli Archive preserves the scientific legacy of the theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli (1900–1958), recipient of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physics. Following Pauli's death, his widow Franca Pauli, assisted by Charles Enz, Victor Weisskopf and other colleagues, undertook the reconstruction and preservation of his correspondence, manuscripts and scientific papers. In 1960 Franca Pauli began donating the collection to CERN, where a dedicated Pauli Memorial Room (Salle Pauli) was established. Following her death in 1987, CERN inherited the copyright for Pauli's scientific work. The collection is administered by the CERN Archives and overseen by the Pauli Committee.
Geographical and cultural context
The CERN Archives are located at CERN on the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva and document an international scientific organization whose member states and collaborators span the world.
Mandates/Sources of authority
The collection is preserved and administered by CERN Archives under CERN archival regulations and agreements established through the donations made by Franca Pauli and subsequent actions of the Pauli Committee. Access and publication rights are managed through CERN Archives.
Administrative structure
Records management and collecting policies
Buildings
The collection is housed within CERN. A dedicated "Salle Pauli" preserves part of Pauli's personal library and associated objects.
Holdings
More than 2,100 items of correspondence, manuscripts and scientific documents, relating to:
- Quantum mechanics
- Atomic and particle physics
- Relativity
- Neutrino theory
- History of twentieth-century physics
- Scientific correspondence networks
- Philosophy of science
- Psychology and epistemology
- European and American scientific communities of the twentieth century
Finding aids, guides and publications
Access area
Opening times
Consultation by appointment. Researchers should contact the Archives in advance. Access conditions are established by CERN Operational Circular 3.