Browse Items (22 total)

Group Photograph of Sorensen, Millikan, and other Prominent Scientists at the California Institute of Technology

This is a puzzling rare photograph where Professor Sorensen and Dr. Millikan are captured together. Professor Sorensen, head of the Electrical…

High Voltage Laboratory Lease Between Southern California Edison and Caltech

This lease contract between SCE and Caltech describes the terms for the High Voltage Lab, which marks the most direct collaboration between Caltech…

High Voltage Research Laboratory

In 1923, Caltech and the Southern California Edison Company built the High Voltage Research Laboratory, the first university laboratory in the world…

Investigation of Transformer Burn Outs at Kern Substation

This report describes Professor Sorensen’s experiments on the Kern substation, owned by Pacific Light and Power (PL&P). Sorensen was a Consulting…

Letter From Westinghouse Electric to Royal W. Sorenson

A decade after the Borel plant began operation, electricity requirements in Southern California had grown drastically. To meet the new demands, Henry…

Map Of Campus - 1926-1927 Handbook of the California Institute of Technology

Every incoming Caltech undergraduate student receives the latest edition of the campus handbook, the little t. In the 2025–2026 edition, the little t…

Memorandum Regarding Kellogg Radiation Laboratory Research, Future Plans, and Caltech's Physics Curriculum

Lauritsen and Fowler’s 1948 memorandum defines the Kellogg Lab’s post-WWII pivot from high-voltage X-rays toward fundamental nuclear research. This…

Millikan-Sorensen Vacuum Switch

Transmission of power is dangerous when high voltage drives immense amounts of current. When Big Creek finished construction, ultra-high voltage (up…

Technical Report on Hydraulic Machinery Laboratory

In 1933, the greater Los Angeles region saw renewed interest in hydraulics as a source of energy and began laying the foundations for a modern Western…