Exhibition Traces the Career of Alumnus Merton Davies

An exhibition currently on view in RAND’s Santa Monica Library traces the 50-year career of Merton E. Davies, one of the first members of RAND’s staff. Organized by Brent Bradley in partnership with the RAND Archives, Merton E. Davies: Five Decades of Space Exploration features historical documents and artifacts from a recent donation to the RAND Archives from the Davies family.

The objects on view present an insider's perspective on Davies’s numerous contributions to space research, satellite technology, and planetary photogrammetry—mapping planets through deep-space photography. Included in the display are a clip from the National Enquirer in which Davies is interviewed about space exploration, Davies's personal notebooks (he only used pens with green ink), photographs from his time at RAND, and a set of vintage globes of the moon, Earth, and Mars. Also included is an original copy of Davies’s 1958 publication A Photographic System for Close-Up Lunar Exploration, a working paper that argues for a mode to photograph the moon with cameras attached to space vehicles.

Merton Davies

Merton Davies in his office at RAND in Santa Monica.

Davies, who joined then–Project RAND in 1947, retired from RAND in 1998. In the late 1960s, he worked under contract with NASA to analyze satellite photographs of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn for research and possible further exploration. Examples of his NASA contributions are also on view in the exhibit, including an award from NASA for work on the Mariner Venus/Mercury 1973 Project and a publication titled Atlas of Mercury, which documented Mercury’s terrain. His myriad contributions earned him a posthumous namesake on Mars: In 2004, the crater on the prime meridian of the red planet was named in Davies’s honor.

The Davies family at a reception for the exhibition in RAND's Santa Monica library on October 19, 2017​

The Davies family at a reception for the exhibition in RAND's Santa Monica library on October 19, 2017​

Photo by Sachi Yagyu

A Photographic System for Close-Up Lunar Exploration, a 1958 publication by Davies

A Photographic System for Close-Up Lunar Exploration, a 1958 publication by Davies

Image courtesy of RAND Publications Archive Collection

In addition to the Davies exhibit, a new permanent exhibit of artifacts from the RAND Archives—highlighting RAND’s 70-year history of innovation and contributions to public policy and decisionmaking —is now on display in the pre-Forum area of RAND’s Santa Monica office. It features photos and other objects from the RAND Archives collection, information about current RAND research, and recent donations of important documents and other items from RAND alumni, staff, and their families.

This exhibit will officially open next year in conjunction with RAND's 70th anniversary celebration, and the display will be refreshed periodically. If you think you might have something that should be displayed in RAND's "mini-museum," please email archives@rand.org for more information about how to contribute.

Exhibition Photo Gallery

Click any image to see a larger version.

Russian Lunar Globe. Presented to Merton Davies by Dr. Vladimir Shevchenko in honor of Davies' trip to the Soviet Union, 1987. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies' original patent for the Spin-Pan Camera, 1964. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Article on Lunik photos by Merton Davies, 1960. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies’ pocket notebook, ca. 1956. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies in his RAND Office with lunar globe, circa 1970. Photo courtesy the Merton E. Davies family Atlas of Mercury. Prepared for the Office of Space Sciences, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1976. Photo courtesy of the RAND Archives Mars Globe, labeled with the crater named in honor of Merton Davies, 1973. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Mariner 9 Control Net of Mars (R-1122-JPL). Geodetic control net of the surface of Mars based on pictures from Mariner 9, by Merton Davies, 1972. RAND publication on the photographic exploration of the planets by Merton Davies, 1971. Photo courtesy of the RAND Archives Spin-Pan Camera prototype for Dielectric Tape, invented by Merton Davies, 1968. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies Exhibit, RAND Library, Santa Monica, CA, 2017 Planetary Society, founding member, 1981. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family NASA Group Achievement Award. Given to Merton Davies for his work on the Voyager Imaging Science Investigation team, 1981 NASA Certficate of Achievement. Given to Merton Davies in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Lunar Program, 1979. U.S. Antarctic Observer Letter to Merton Davies with Observer patch and ID, 1966-1967. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family A Photographic System for Close-Up Lunar Exploration (RM-2183). Description of a photographic system that may be used to obtain pictures of either the visible or hidden side of the moon from an early space vehicle, by Merton Davies, 1958 George W. Goddard Award. Outstanding contribution to photo-optical instrumentation engineering, 1966. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Recommendation to the Air Staff. An Earlier Reconnaissance Satellite System, 1957. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies family Merton Davies' California Institute of Technology faculty ID card, ca. 1960s. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies receiving his Founders Award, 2000 Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies receiving Voyager award, 1981. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies sitting on his desk in his RAND office, ca. 1970s. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies, ca. 1950s. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies, ca. 1970s. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Surprise Attack Conference. Advisor on use of satellites to prevent surprise nuclear attacks, 1958. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies and RAND President Don Rice, pointing to prime meridian of Mars, ca. 1970s. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies, ca. 1990s. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family Merton Davies' briefcase with RAND documents and Douglas Aircraft stencils, ca. 1950s. Courtesy of the Merton E. Davies Family