Walt Patterson On Energy

Nuclear power: Patterson Nuclear Collection



Beginning in the 1960s I collected popular and semi-popular books on nuclear energy for more than three decades, eventually acquiring more than 500 titles. I also obtained many official documents and accumulated a lot of nuclear ephemera - brochures, posters, pamphlets, badges and other material - from nuclear issues and campaigns around the world. I was delighted when the Science Museum Library in London agreed to accept my collection and keep it together as what must be a unique historical resource.

The Patterson Nuclear Collection is now in the Wroughton archive of the Science Museum, near Swindon, Wiltshire. If you wish to consult the Collection, you can call on +44 (0)1793 846 222 on Fridays, or email to SMLWroughton@sciencemuseum.ac.uk. The 602 books in the Collection are now in a fully searchable catalogue online, here.




© Walt Patterson 2025