The lost Boys of quantum chemistry
Dermot Martin profiles Frank Boys, an unsung hero of theoretical chemistry
When the English quantum chemist Sir John Pople won a Nobel prize in chemistry in 1998, it was the ultimate recognition of a lifetime dedicated to understanding the mathematical basis of chemical bonding.
By this time mathematically minded chemists such as Pople had been chipping away for more than half a century on calculations which brought us all closer to ’chemical truth’. And four other scientists had been awarded Nobel prizes for their theoretical chemistry work: Linus Pauling, Robert Mulliken, Chandrasekhara Venkata (CV) Raman and Gerhard Herzberg.