Help Us Preserve RAND’s Seminal Publications
The cover of RAND's first report, published on May 2, 1946.
Photo courtesy of RAND Archives
It's hard to believe, but until very recently RAND did not own a copy of our first report, Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship, which was published in 1946 when RAND was still part of Douglas Aircraft Company. Few original hard copies of the report remain—the copy RAND held was a photocopy of a photocopy of the 328-page report. But the History Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio recently donated an original copy (number 22 in the print run) to the RAND Archives. The vintage report is now on display in the library in the Santa Monica office.
A foldout image from RAND's first report, Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship, published on May 2, 1946
Photo courtesy of RAND Archives
Similarly, only one well-worn original copy remains in the RAND library of A Million Random Digits. The book, which was published in 1955, is a product of RAND's pioneering work in computing and remains the largest published source of random digits and normal deviates. RAND is in need of original copies of a number of other seminal publications, including Games of Strategy: Theory and Applications; Dynamic Programming; Planets for Man; An Introduction to Information Processing Language; What to do About Teacher Shortages; and The Financing of National Health Insurance.
If you have first printings of these or other historical RAND publications, please consider sharing them with us. They will be preserved in the RAND Archives for the benefit of future researchers.
For more information on how to make a donation to the RAND Archives, please contact archivist Cara McCormick at cara_mccormick@rand.org or 310-393-0411, x6181.