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Finding aid created by: Tim Carter, Emily Rindahl, and Maggie Teschler
Date: 2016
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Summary |
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Creator: | Harth, Erich. |
Title: | Erich Harth Papers. |
Dates: | 1940-2013 |
Size: | 2 boxes (2 linear feet) |
Abstract: | The Erich Harth Papers contain articles, books, and other written materials from his time as a student and professor at Syracuse University. |
Language: | English, German, Italian |
Repository: |
University Archives, Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave., Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 |
Erich Harth (1919-2016) was a professor of physics and neurobiology at Syracuse University from 1957 to 1990. He also earned his bachelor's degree (1943), master’s degree (1948) and PhD (1951) in physics from Syracuse University.
Erich Harth was born in Kritzendorf, a small town near Vienna, Austria. He graduated from high school in 1937 and promptly joined the Austrian Air Force. When German forces invaded Austria shortly after, Harth fled to Lisbon, Portugal, and later made his way to Rio, Brazil. He eventually arrived in the United States in 1940. Harth then took a bus to Syracuse, New York with help from the Syracuse Peace Council, an organization that helped refugee students. He began studying physics at Syracuse University in 1941.
Harth earned his bachelor’s degree in 1943 and began graduate school immediately after. His graduate student status initially allowed him to avoid the draft for World War II, but he was eventually drafted into the Army in 1944. During his time as a paratrooper, 1944-1946, he earned two Battle Stars and the Combat Medical Badge.
After his service, Harth returned to Syracuse. He finished his master's degree in physics in 1948 and began studying cosmic rays in the University's newly-formed doctoral program. He earned his PhD in 1951. It was during these years that he met and married Dorothy Feldman.
Between 1951 and 1955, Harth worked at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. studying nuclear physics. There he met Marty Block, who convinced Harth to continue studying cosmic rays with him at Duke University. By 1957, Harth had moved back to Syracuse with his family, where he would work for the next 33 years.
Back in Syracuse, Harth’s work shifted from the study of cosmic rays to the study of neural networks in the brain. By the late 1960s, he focused exclusively on exploring the material basis for things like vision, memory, and consciousness.
Harth was internationally recognized in the field of biophysics and frequently published his research in American, German, and Italian journals. He was the author of three books: Windows of the Mind: Reflections on the Physical Basis of Consciousness (1982), Dawn of a Millennium: Beyond Evolution and Culture (1990), and Creative Loop: How the Brain Makes a Mind (1993). He invented an algorithm known as Alopex, which was used to observe patterns in neuron activity. He also invented, along with professor Ted Kalogeropoulos, what was known as a multiparameter optimization circuit. This device helped to control many variables within machines and was used by researchers in everything from car engines to hadron colliders.
Erich Harth earned a Chancellor citation in 1984 for his work with the biophysics program at Syracuse University. He retired as professor of physics in 1990 but continued to publish and write about the brain up until his death in 2016.
The biographical information here was adapted from information found on the Syracuse University Department of Physics Interview Archives website and in these papers.
The Erich Harth Papers date from 1940 to 2013 and include the following five series:
The Articles series contains articles that Harth published in scientific journals.
The Books series contains copies of Harth's published books, including Italian and German translations.
The Other Writings series contains drafts of Harth's biography, funding proposals for his multiparameter optimization circuit, two drafts of unpublished books about the brain and consciousness, and miscellaneous writings and notes.
The Presented Papers series contains papers Harth presented at various conferences, meetings, symposia, and congresses.
The Reports series contains reports Harth wrote during his time working for the Office of Naval Research and the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory.
Access Restrictions:
Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.
Use Restrictions:
Written permission must be obtained from the Syracuse University Archives and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
The Syracuse University Archives holds a clippings file for Erich Harth.
Names
Harth, Erich.
Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University.
Subjects
Neurobiology.
Physics.
College teachers.
Higher education.
Types of Material
Articles.
Photographs.
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Erich Harth Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
Richard Harth donated the Erich Harth Papers to the Archives in 2016.
Processing Information
Materials were placed in archival housing. Items in binders were rehoused in folders.
Articles
Books
Other Writings
Presented Papers
Reports
Articles | |||||||||||
Box 1 | Alopex: Vision Research 14, 1475-1482 1974 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Vol. 9, No. 1 1986 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Biological Cybernetics, Vol. 22, 169-180 1976 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Biological Cybernetics, Vol. 30, 231-240 1978 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Biological Cybernetics, Vol. 35, 161-174 1979 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Biophysical Journal, Vol. 7, 689 1967 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Brain Models, etc. in Automata Theory 1964-1965 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Compound Net Model of the Cerebral Cortex 1969 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Consciousness and Cognition, Vol. 4, 346-368 1995 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Design of a Simulator, unpublished November 1963 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Dynamics and Design, unpublished May 1968 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Dynamics of Perception, Rostov-Don October 1976 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Evolution of DNA, unpublished June 1965 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Fast-cycling Chamber," Branscomb, et. al. 1960 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | The Journal of Comparative Neurology, Vol. 176, No. 2 1977 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vol. 6 1999 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control 1973 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Journal of Theoretical Biology, Vol. 26, 93-120 1970 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Journal of Theoretical Biology, Vol. 26, 121-148 1970 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Kybernetik, Vol. 10, 32-37 1972 | ||||||||||
Miscellaneous Articles and Photographs | |||||||||||
Box 1 | 1958-1979 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | 1980-1987 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Model of Adaptation, Kybernetik, Vol. 9, 189 1971 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Molecular Kinetics in Olfaction, unpublished February 1966 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Multiparameter Optimization Circuit" 1990 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | "Neural Edelmanism" 1988 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Neural Networks, Vol. 10, No. 7, 1241-1255 1997 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Nucleonics, Vol. 13, No. 4, 64-66, April 1955 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Il Nuovo Cimento X, Vol. 4, 46-50 1956 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Il Nuovo Cimento X, Vol. 20, 724-732, March 1961 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Il Nuovo Cimento X, Vol. 28, 299-308 April 1963 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Perception Figures - Photographs undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Physical Review, K- + He4 --> Λ + π- + P + d 1968 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Physical Review, Letters, Vol. 3, No. 6, 291-292 September 1959 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Physical Review, Letters, Vol. 7, No. 6, 1-5 September 1961 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Physical Review, Vol. 87, No. 3, 504-516 August 1, 1952 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Physical Review, Vol. 99, No. 1, 261-263 July 1955 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Physical Review, Vol. 100, No. 3, 324-327 October 1,1955 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Physical Review, Vol. 103, No. 5, 1484-1489 September 1956 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Physical Review, Vol. 103, No. 5, 1489-1501 September 1956 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Physical Review, Vol. 104, No. 1 1956 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Physical Review, Vol. 120, No. 2, 570-571 October 1960 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Physical Review, Vol. 130, No. 2, 766-768 April 1963 | ||||||||||
Publications, Particle Physics, E. Harth | |||||||||||
Box 1 | 1952-1959 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | 1960-1961 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | 1963-1968 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | 1991-1992 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Random Network Approach, unpublished July 1963 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Science, Vol. 237, 184-187 1987 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Signal Stabilization, etc., Kybernetik, Vol. 7, 112 1970 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Stationary States, etc., R. Wong and E. Harth 1972 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Toward a Science of Consciousness, MIT Press 1996 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Tritonia, Journal of Theoretical Biology, Vol. 55, 201 1975 |
Books | |||||||||||
Box 2 | Alle Soglie del Terzo Millennio 1991 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Brein & Geest: Hoe Het Brein de Geest Creëert 1995 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | The Creative Loop: How the Brain Makes a Mind 1993 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Dawn of the Millennium: Beyond Evolution and Culture 1990 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Windows on the Mind: Reflections on the Physical Basis of Consciousness 1982 |
Other Writings | |||||||||||
Box 2 | All About Consciousness 2012 | ||||||||||
Alopex Theory | |||||||||||
Box 2 | 1975 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | 1977-1979 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Biography undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | The Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol. 230, No. 3 September 1940 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Miscellaneous Writings 2006-2013 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Proposal for Multiparameter Optimization Circuit 1988, 1991 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | The Strange World Under Your Skull 2007 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Syracuse University High Energy Physics Memoranda 1961 |
Presented Papers | |||||||||||
Box 2 | 1st European Biophysics Congress 1971 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | 3rd International Biophysics Congress 1969 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | 4th International Biophysics Congress 1972 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | 5th International Biophysics Congress 1975 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | 24th Annual Conference on Engineering in Medicine and Biology 1971 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | The American Physical Society 1970-1971 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | APS Meeting, New York January 1960 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Bionics Symposium 1966 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Biophysical Society Annual Meeting 1973 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | CERN International High Energy Conference 1962 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | CERN Symposium 1956 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | European Meeting on Cybernetics and Systems Research 1972 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1st Annual International Conference on Neural Networks 1987 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society Conference 1986 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Convention 1967 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | "Interdisciplinary Study on Artificial Intelligence" Workshop 1983 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | International Conference on Weak Interactions 1963 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Rochester Conference August 1960 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Symposium on Biocybernetics and Theoretical Neurobiology 1976 |
Reports | |||||||||||
Box 2 | AF 4th Quarterly Progress Report February 1968 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | AF 49 (638)-588 Report undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | AF Progress Report, Sim. Progress November 1967 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | AF OSR no. TN, 60-169 February 1960 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | AF OSR no. TN, 60-170 February 1960 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Compound Net Model, AF Final Tech Report March 1969 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | ONR Final Progress Report 1968 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | ONR Report 61-4 July 1, 1961 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | ONR Report 62-3 June 1, 1962 |