The Melvin C. Hironaka Notebooks consist of class notebooks created by Hironaka for engineering courses, primarily civil engineering, he took at Oregon State College. The notebooks include lecture notes, problems, quizzes, and exams. The following courses are represented in the collection: Engineering Drawing (CE 111, 112, and 113); Introduction to Civil Engineering (CE 201); Mechanics (Dynamics) (CE 213); Plane Surveying (CE 221 and 222); Topographic Survey (CE 223); Fluid Mechanics (CE 313); Thermodynamics (ME 336); Soil Mechanics (CE 372); Structural Analysis (CE 381-382 and CE 486); and Structural Engineering (CE 483).
These course were taught by a variety of engineering faculty, including F.J. Burgess, M.P. Coopey, G.L. Martin, Thomas McClellan, S. Nathanson, H.D. Pritchett, and Roy H. Shoemaker.
An addition to the Hironaka Papers (Accession 2013:043) is primarily made up of notebooks documenting Hironaka's coursework in civil engineering and physics at OSU. It also includes a biographical sketch, a book, a letter, photographs, and a slide rule. Reflecting subjects such as indeterminate structures, hydraulic machinery, reinforced concrete, foundations, and the strength of materials, the notebooks contain class assignments, quizzes, and notes.The letter is a commendation from President Ronald Reagan honoring Hironaka for his innovative solution to an asphalt pavement blistering problem at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, South Carolina. In addition to a portrait shot of Hironaka as a student, the photographic prints (5 in total) depict him at a summer job for the U.S. Forest Service, as part of a group shot of students in a road design engineering class, and on stage as a part of the University Theatre production of "The Teahouse of the August Moon." The book, "Engineering Mechanics", was one of Hironaka's college texts.
