Call Number:

504

Repository:

Science History Institute Archives

Extent:

.01 linear feet (1 folder)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Item Description, Clay Rasmussen Collection, 1985-1999, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

1985-1999 (inclusive)

Form:

Photographs

Abstract:

A collection of photographs and ephemera related to Clay Rasmussen's career working for and with Arnold Beckman.

National Technical Laboratories was a scientific instruments company founded by Arnold O. Beckman in 1935. It was later known as Beckman Instruments, Inc. and was one of the largest manufacturers of scientific instruments in the United States. Beckman founded National Technical Laboratories while he was a member of the faculty at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). National Technical Laboratories' first product was an "acidimeter", later renamed to pH meter. The product was designed for a former classmate of Beckman's who used it to determine the acidity of lemons. The pH meter later became an indispensable tool for analytic chemists. After the success of the pH meter, National Technical Laboratories would go on to innovate ultraviolet and infrared spectrophotometers. Beckman's company still exists today, now called Beckman Coulter, Inc., and manufactures biomedical instruments.

A collection of photographs and ephemera related to Clay Rasmussen's career working for and with Arnold Beckman.The Clay Rasmussen Collection contains a variety of photographs and ephemera related to Clay Rasmussen's career working for and with Arnold Beckman. The collection begins with two copies of a postcard regarding Beckpex, an annual event honoring the founding of Beckman's company. Included in the collection are two documents relating to Clay Rasmussen's life. The first is a card celebrating his 90th birthday, and the second is a recollection of his first day at National Technical Laboratories. There are three photographs found within this collection. The first is a photograph of Beckman and his wife Mabel speaking with Helen M. Young; their names are written on the back of the image. The second is a photograph of two children; the inscription on the back identifies them as Lois and Klaus Beckman. The last is a photograph of Beckman shaking hands with Pete Wilson, the then Governor of California. The last item in the collection is a copy of the magazine Beckman Life from 1991, which features Beckman on the cover and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the company's DU Spectrophotometer.