Experimental notes, working papers, correspondence and lecture summaries compiled by Charles Wheatstone, 1836-1875, and photographs collected by him in that period. Notably including papers relating to the development and testing of the telegraph, [1836-1960]; descriptions of experiments and test results concerning the measurement of electromotive forces and electrical potential, [1840-1875]; experimental observations on the nature of magnetism, electricity and thermodynamics, including electromagnet design, batteries and dynamos, [1834-1855]; working papers relating to optics including experiments into refraction, colouration of compounds and polarisation, [1850-1875]; drafts of lectures on sound and musical instruments prepared by Wheatstone, [1832-1837]; material relating to the management of the Wheatstone collection of scientific instruments and library, 1890-1992; biographical material relating to the life of Wheatstone, the invention of the telegraph and Wheatstone's musical instrument manufacturing business, with unrelated newspapers, 1757-1975; stereoscopic photographs and glass negatives taken by Roger Fenton, Samuel Buckle, Jules Duboscq and others, featuring landscapes, still lifes, panoramic scenes of cities including Paris and Moscow and the interior and exterior of the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, Sydenham, 1851, and especially the Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1855, [1850-1901]; artefacts on loan from Department of Physics, King's College London, including telegraph apparatus, a nail fiddle and other prototype musical instruments, [1834-1875]; exhibition of scientific and musical instruments, [1834-1875].

The papers of John Pearson comprise manuscript notebooks of lectures and experimental write-ups compiled by Pearson when he was a student at Chelsea Polytechnic, 1954-1957, and include notes on electricity, optics, electronics and circuit theory, electromagnetic theory, diffraction gratings, wave mechanics and X-ray physics.

Extensive correspondence of Sir Joseph Larmor relating to his work on electromagnetic theory, optics, analytical mechanics, and geodynamics.

Working notes, correspondence, annotated papers and printed pamphlets relating to telegraphy, collected by Heaviside 1872-1921. The collection comprises: Notebooks mainly consisting of mathematical equations and calculations with drafts and transcripts of papers submitted to the Philosophical Magazine and the Electrician, covering subjects such as problems with long distance signal transmission and the development of a non-distortional circuit, duplex telegraphy, the age of the earth including the development of equations for heat loss from a spherical body, measurement of resistance, eletromagnetic theory of light, the transmission of an electric charge along a wire, Maxwell's equations, vector operators for mathematical calculations; Pamphlets and publications mainly relating to telegraphy, many annotated, including works on the analysis of cathode rays, radiation, radioactivity and early attempt to define the workings of the atom, telegraphy and telephony; Papers, comprising rough notes and calculations, including drafts of papers such as Operators in Physical Mathematics Parts 2 and 3, proof copies of Electromagnetic Theory with notes and calculations on the reverse, and correspondence with The Electrician and other periodicals over the publication of his articles; Official awards and honours presented to Heaviside and other assorted items, including the award of Cedergren Medal and Gottingen University Honorary Doctorate, 1924; Notes by Heaviside on plane waves and electrification, the application of zonal harmonics on physical problems, magnetic induction, gravitational dimensions, the magnetism of the earth, on the backs of old letters; Correspondence from notable scientists and mathematicians including Sir Oliver Lodge, W E Ayrton, W H Bragg, S P Thompson, and Sir William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs; Material found at Paignton, 1957, including Preliminary drafts of articles for Electromagnetic Theory; annotated galley proofs of Electromagnetic Theory; assorted papers, spare proofs of papers and miscellaneous correspondence, and additional correspondence sent to Heaviside.

The papers are extensive covering Faraday's work in science. Details of his work on electro-magnetic induction, the laws of electrolysis and the theory of electro-magnetism are in the form of laboratory notebooks, lecture notes and various publications on experimental researchers in electricity. There are some administrative papers on the Royal Institution of Great Britain including cash books. The correspondence covers his work for the Admiralty and the Corporation of Trinity House whilst acting as Scientific Adviser; they also detail his general communication with people and other organisations. Other items include his book collection, scrapbooks, portfolio of portraits and apparatus. A few lacunae have been identified. There are no documents on his personal life or his work as Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

Chelsea Polytechnic, Chelsea College of Science and Technology and Chelsea College Department of Electrical Engineering Records, 1968-1996. This series comprises correspondence with overseas research workers, 1990-1996; rough and fair copy teaching notes and handouts for students on courses taught by John Pearson and others on electronic devices, electromagnetism, circuits and control systems, microwave engineering and communications theory, 1972-1995; tape recordings of lectures on electronic devices, [1975]; Departmental research reports, 1989-1995; papers concerning a reunion of Chelsea Electronics graduates, 1985; incomplete set of examination question papers in Electronics and related disciplines, 1968-1993; group photographs of graduates, 1970-1980, 1985-1986, 1989, 1995; histories of the Electronics Department and other memorabilia, 1977-1978.

The papers of John Edmund Bowen consist of two manuscript notebooks containing notes on lectures delivered by Professor Joseph John Thomson, Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge, 1911-1912. Bowen's notes consist of detailed summaries of Thomson's lectures on subjects including the discharge of electricity through gases, recombination of ions, recent developments in researches on light and electricity, scattering of electromagnetic radiation and the quantum theory of light.