Consists primarily of the scientific writings, professional correspondence, and subject and project files of David T. Wilkinson (1935-2002), the renowned experimental physicist and cosmologist who taught and conducted research in the Department of Physics at Princeton University from 1963 until his retirement in 2002. Wilkinson was a pioneer in the study and analysis of cosmic microwave background radiation, the nature and existence of which have yielded, through his lifetime's work, solid evidence for the Big Bang theory of the universe's birth. The collection contains the administrative (including his NASA and/or National Science Foundation funding and accounting paperwork) and background history of two of Wilkinson's main projects -- the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) and Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) -- as well as evidence of the many and varied academic activities in his career.