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Edward G. Brame, Jr. Papers
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Held at: Science History Institute Archives [Contact Us]315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Science History Institute Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Edward G. Brame, Jr. was an American chemist and spectroscopist. He was born in Shiloh, New Jersey on March 20, 1927 and spent his childhood living in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In 1948, Brame graduated from Dickinson College and received his master's degree from Columbia University. From 1950 to 1953, he worked at the Corn Products Refining Company as a research chemist. He was awarded his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1957. Brame worked at the DuPont Company for twenty-seven years in the Elastomer Chemicals and Polymer Products Departments. Along with Dr. Edward Dunlop, he co-founded the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS) and served in several capacities over the years as the organization's president, secretary, and exhibits chairperson.
In 1984, Brame retired from DuPont but continued working as a consulting chemist. He became co-founder and president of the CECON Group in 1985. As a consultant, he became involved in the study of parapsychology, to which he brought his skills as an analytical chemist. In 1986, he was commissioned by the Mobius Society to study whether the physical composition of water underwent change as the result of healing energies being applied to it. Although these activities may have seemed unorthodox to those who knew him only as a respected spectroscopist, he strongly opposed what he regarded as "scientific fundamentalism" (the refusal of scientists to probe beyond established boundaries). Much of his interest in phenomena like therapeutic touch and eyeless sight was piqued during his National Academy of Science-sponsored trips to the Soviet Union, where parapsychology was studied more seriously than in the United States. He and his wife Grace visited the Soviet Union to work and lecture five times between 1981 and 1990.
Brame was an active member of several organizations: Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS), Society of Applied Spectroscopy (SAS), Colloquium Spectroscopium International (CSI), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Subcommittee on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and the Chemical Instrumentation Group for the Chemical Heritage Instrumentation Foundation. He served on the Awards Committee of the American Chemical Society (ACS). He was also the editor of Applied Spectroscopy Reviews for thirty years, editor of Practical Spectroscopy for twenty-two years, and associate editor of Applied Spectroscopy for five years.
Edward G. Brame, Jr. died suddenly while vacationing in Shanghai, China on September 1, 2002.
Sources
Edward G. Brame, Jr. Papers, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Edward G. Brame, Jr. Papers contain the personal papers of Edward G. Brame, Jr. The collection is arranged into the following six series:
- Biographical Material
- Scientific Work
- Travels in Russia
- Parapsychology
- Organizations
- Oversized Materials and Obsolete Formats
The Edward G. Brame, Jr. Papers were donated to the Science History Institute (formerly the Chemical Heritage Foundation) by Grace Adolphsen Brame in 2007.
The Edward G. Brame, Jr. Papers were processed by Andrew Mangravite in 2009 and encoded into EAD by Samantha Brigher in 2020.
People
Organization
- American Chemical Society
- CECON Group (firm)
- Chemical Heritage Foundation
- Coblentz Society
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Elastomer Chemicals Department
- Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies
- Mobius Society
- Society for Applied Spectroscopy
- Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship
- Temple University. Center for Frontier Sciences
Subject
- Intellectual cooperation
- Nuclear magnetic resonance
- Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
- Parapsychology
- Parapsychology and science
- Science -- Soviet Union -- History
- Touch -- Therapeutic use
- Water -- Analysis
Place
- Publisher
- Science History Institute Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid created by Andrew Mangravite and encoded into EAD by Samantha Brigher.
- Finding Aid Date
- 2009
- Access Restrictions
-
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes and the collection is open to the public.
- Use Restrictions
-
The Science History Institute holds copyright to the Edward G. Brame, Jr. Papers. The researcher assumes full responsibility for all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
Collection Inventory
This series contains Edward G. Brame, Jr.'s Biographical Material files. Arranged in their original order, this series consists of twenty-five files in two boxes. The files are arranged in the following two sub-series:
- Childhood Through Graduate School
- Life After University
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series consists of one box of eleven files. These files contain genealogies of the Brame family, Edward G. Brame, Jr.'s academic materials from primary school to graduate school, and his military records.
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series consists of one box of fourteen files. These files contain correspondence, job applications, notecards, notebooks, awards, publications, and obituaries belonging to and about Edward G. Brame, Jr.
This series contains Edward G. Brame, Jr.'s Scientific Work files. Arranged in its original order, this series consists of ten files in two boxes. The files are arranged in the following two sub-series:
- Reports and Course Outlines
- Reprints
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series consists of one box of six files. These files contain charts, handouts, notes, reports, and correspondence generated during Edward G. Brame, Jr.'s employment at DuPont Chemical Company.
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series consists of one box of four files. These files contain abstracts of lectures, reprints of articles and lectures, and memoranda from DuPont Elastomer Chemicals Department.
This series contains Edward G. Brame, Jr.'s Travels in Russia files. Arranged in its original order, this series consists of four boxes of twenty-one files. The files are arranged in the following three sub-series:
- NAS-Related Documents
- Articles and Personal Reminiscences
- Scientific Work Conducted in the U.S.S.R.
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series consists of one box of six files. These files contain correspondence, handbooks, newsletters, reports, and lists of contacts regarding the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the U.S. Department of State.
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series consists of one box of five files. These files contain Edward G. Brame, Jr.'s notebooks, articles, newspaper clippings, abstracts and reports about Russia and its relationships with science and religion.
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series consists of two boxes of ten files. These files contain correspondence, notebooks, notes, and reprints of publications regarding Edward G. Brame, Jr.'s visits to the U.S.S.R. and his scientific research.
This series contains Edward G. Brame, Jr.'s Parapsychology files. Arranged in its original order, this series consists of thirty-nine files in two boxes. The files are arranged in the following two sub-series:
- Water, Therapeutic Touch, and Eyeless Sight Reprints
- Parapsychology and Spirituality
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series consists of one box of nineteen files. These files contain correspondence, publications, handouts, notebooks, abstracts, and spectra concerning Edward G. Brame, Jr.'s research conducted for the Mobius Society about the healing properties of "altered" water.
"His avocational experiments were in the field of subtle human energies with investigation into the efficacy of prayer and healing, particularly. After hearing of an experiment conducted at Hartwick College about the effect of prayer on water which was then used to feed plants, he was challenged to discern whether there was a scientifically analytical way to discern the effect of prayer and healing energies applied to water. He began his work on the project and later included Dr. William Tiller, Head of the Material Sciences Division of Stanford University. Together they worked primarily on surface tension measurements of the samples. In 1986, he was commissioned by the Mobius Society to extend his experiments in live situations where the water was again involved.
Briefly, the results obtained, as recounted by his wife, were that the water, in comparison with control samples, gained measurable energy during the experiments, and after several months of storage did not lose the energy it had gained. It did not return to its former state as steam does when it is cooled. The experiments with the Mobius Society indicated that when some measure of healing occurred in an individual, the process took only about five minutes. A longer time in prayer and the laying on of hands appeared to make no difference.
Also fascinating in this work was the conclusion that the phases of the moon seemed to make an appreciable difference. For instance, water placed at the altars of churches on an Easter Sunday when there were large crowds and communion was less affected than water in the same position on the Sunday following." Note by Grace Adolphsen Brame.
See also Box 10 Folder 6.
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series consists of twenty files in one box. These files contain correspondence, publications, handouts, notes, conference materials, and miscellaneous items collected by Edward G. Brame, Jr. The materials have been collected from publications, conferences, and lectures on the topics of both parapsychology and spirituality.
See also Box 9 Folder 10.
This series contains Edward G. Brame, Jr.'s Organizations files. Arranged in its original order, this series consists of nineteen files in two boxes. These files primarily concern his participation in professional organizations, especially spectroscopy and chemistry. Other organizations include Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship and CECON Group.
"In 1981, the American Chemical Society asked Dr. Brame and Dr. John Ferraro to begin a collection of historical instruments used in chemistry. The Chemical Heritage Foundation agreed to house the collection. At first the task was difficult, with few companies contributing, but within a few years the collection became too large for the space allocated to it. In 2002, Dr. Thomas Porro acquired for CHF the contents of a similar collection which was closing in Europe. That collection, the Perkin-Elmer Bodenseewerk Museum Collection, was a critical addition, making the CHF collection the finest in the world." Note by Grace Adolphsen Brame.
"Dr. Brame had a penchant for organization. He and Dr. Edward Dunlop organized FACSS. Early on Dr. Jenny Grasselli became part of the committee as well as the first President of the international organization. Dr. Brame eventually became its President, Secretary and Exhibits Director." Note by Grace Adolphsen Brame.
This series contains Edward G. Brame, Jr.'s Oversized Materials and Obsolete Formats files. Arranged in its original order, this series consists of four items in two boxes. The items are arranged in the following two sub-series:
- Oversized Materials
- Obsolete Formats
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series consists of three items in one box. These items contain a scrapbook with newspaper clippings and ephemera, and large graphs and spectra.
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series consists of one box of fourteen floppy diskettes. The box is labelled "EGB Files" but no other information regarding the contents on the diskettes.