Descriptive Summary and Abstract

Creator

Kent, Jack T.

Title

Inventory of the Jack T. Kent Radio Scripts

Dates

1945-1950

Abstract

Jack Thurston Kent joined the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas faculty in 1936 as an instructor of mathematics and astronomy. In 1952 he was promoted to Associate Professor. Kent received his A.B. from Lambuth College in Jackson, Tennessee in 1930 and his M.A. from the University of Arkansas in 1931. While at Texas A & M, Kent was head of the Moonwatch team during the International Geophysical Year of 1959. This team was cited for its achievements in spotting artificial satellites. Kent received the Ford Foundation Fellowship in 1951. He also received the Outstanding Achievement Award given by the alumni of Lambuth College in 1960. Kent traveled throughout Texas as a visiting instructor for the National Science Foundation and Texas Academy of Science. He retired from Texas A & M in 1975 as an Associate Professor. The Jack T. Kent Radio Scripts (1945-1950) consist of one five-inch box (.5 linear ft.) containing sixteen legal size file folders. The folders contain manuscripts of radio lectures on mathematics, mathematicians and the solar system by Jack T. Kent, Albert Edward Finlay, W. E. Ross, Roger Valentine McGee, Walter Lee Porter, and James Wendell Ross which were aired on radio station 1620 WTAW-AM in College Station, Tex. between 1945 and 1950.

Identification

TAMU MSS 00074

Extent

.5 linear ft.

Language

English.

Repository

Cushing Memorial Library College Station, TX 77843-5000

Biographical Note

Jack Thurston Kent joined the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas faculty in 1936 as an instructor of mathematics and astronomy. In 1952 he was promoted to Associate Professor. Kent received his A.B. from Lambuth College in Jackson, Tennessee in 1930 and his M.A. from the University of Arkansas in 1931. While at Texas A & M, Kent was head of the Moonwatch team during the International Geophysical Year of 1959. This team was cited for its achievements in spotting artificial satellites. Kent received the Ford Foundation Fellowship in 1951. He also received the Outstanding Achievement Award given by the alumni of Lambuth College in 1960. Kent traveled throughout Texas as a visiting instructor for the National Science Foundation and Texas Academy of Science. He retired from Texas A & M in 1975 as an Associate Professor.

Scope and Content Note

The Jack T. Kent Radio Scripts (1945-1950) consist of one five-inch box (.5 linear ft.) containing sixteen legal size file folders. The folders contain manuscripts of radio lectures on mathematics, mathematicians and the solar system by Jack T. Kent, Albert Edward Finlay, W. E. Ross, Roger Valentine McGee, Walter Lee Porter, and James Wendell Ross, which were aired on radio station 1620 WTAW-AM in College Station, Tex. between 1945 and 1950.

Arrangement of the Papers

This collection is arranged chronologically.

Restrictions

Access

No restrictions.

Usage Restrictions

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog of Cushing Memorial Library. Researchers wishing to find related materials should search the catalog under these index terms.

Names

   Finlay, Albert Edward.
   McGee, Roger Valentine.
   Porter, Walter Lee.
   Ross, James Wendell.
   Ross, W. E.

Organizations

   WTAW (Radio station : College Station, Tex.)--History--Sources.

Subjects

   Astronomy teachers--Texas--College Station--History--Sources.
   College radio stations--Texas--College Station--History--Sources.
   Mathematics--History--Sources.
   Mathematicians--United States--History--Sources.
   Radio addresses, debates, etc.--Texas--College Station--History--Sources.
   Radio broadcasters--Texas--College Station--History--Sources.

Places

   Texas--College Station--History--Sources.

Administrative Information

Provenance

Source unknown

Processing Information

Processed by Wendy A. Carlson in 1992.

Detailed Description of the Scripts:                  

Radio Manuscripts, 1945-1950, undated.

1/1       Outline and manuscripts of radio lectures by Jack T. Kent, 1945

Included are:"Hercules: A Storehouse of Celestial Wonders,""Virgo and the Bright Star Spica,""The Zodiac: A Pathway Among the Stars.""The Sky Clock,""The Gemini and Saturn,""Leo and the Planet Jupiter,""Bootes and the Star Arcturus,""Cancer and Coma Berenices,""Solar Eclipse of July 9, "

1/2       Manuscripts of radio lectures by Albert E. Finlay, 1946

Included are: "Short History of Geometry,""Pythagoras and His School,""Circle and Ellipse," and "Mathematics: A Pasttime for Everyone." 

1/3       Manuscripts of radio lectures by Jack T. Kent, 1946

Included are: "Mathematics and the Men Who Made It,""A Look at the Stars,""This Universe of Ours,""Euclid: Writer of the World's Most Enduring Textbook,""Abel and Galois: Dramatic Lives of Two Great Mathematicians," and "Mathematics Is Where You Find It." 

1/4       Manuscript of radio lecture by W. E. Ross, 1946

Included: "A Short History of Elementary Algebra." 

1/5       Manuscripts of radio lectures by Roger V. McGee, 1946

Included are: Archimedes: Greatest Mathematician in Two Thousand Years, and "Napier: Inventor of the Cure of the Headache of Mathematics." 

1/6       Manuscripts of radio lectures by Walter Lee Porter, 1946

Included are: "Isaac Newton," "Gauss: One of the Three Greatest Mathematicians That Ever Lived," and "Fragments from a Mathematics Scrapbook."

1/7       Manuscripts of radio lecture by James W. Ross, 1946

Included: "Descartes and Fermat," 

1/8       Manuscript of radio lectures by Jack T. Kent 1947-1950

Included are: "This Universe of Ours," "A Look at the Stars," and "The Solar System." 

1/9-14   Manuscripts by Jack T. Kent, 1949-1950.

Included: "Mathematics and the Men Who Made It," "This Universe of Ours: A Modern Giant"; manuscripts for radio show called This Universe of Ours. 

1/15-16   Miscellaneous manuscripts by Jack T. Kent, undated

Included: "Celestial Objects Interesting for Study, "Undated manuscripts by Jack T. Kent including "The Birth of Our Solar System" and a copy of This Week Magazine from the Dallas Morning News, 23 June1946 , with an article regarding a "Scientist's Moon Rocket."