Preparing the ground for quantum chemistry in Great Britain: The work of the physicist R. H. Fowler and the chemist N. V. Sidgwick

British Journal for the History of Science

Volumn 35, Issue 2, 2002, Pages 187-211

  Gavroglu, Kostas ^a   Simões, Ana ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS   (Greece)

^b UNIVERSITY OF LISBON   (Portugal)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 19044388973     PISSN: 00070874     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0007087402004673     Document Type: Article

References (131)

1. John Lennard-Jones, 'New ideas in chemistry', Scientific Monthly (1955), 80, 175-84, 175.
2. Ana Simões, Converging Trajectories, Diverging Traditions: Chemical Bond, Valence, Quantum Mechanics and Chemistry, 1927-37, College Park, 1993; Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões, 'The Americans, the Germans and the beginnings of quantum chemistry: the confluence of diverging traditions', Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences (1994), 25, 47-110; Kostas Gavroglu, Fritz London: A Scientific Biography, Cambridge, 1995; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Different legacies and common aims: Robert Mulliken, Linus Pauling and the origins of quantum chemistry' in Conceptual Perspectives in Quantum Chemistry (ed. J.-L. Calais and E. S. Kryachko), Netherlands, 1997, 383-413; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry qua applied mathematics: the contributions of Charles Alfred Coulson (1910-74)', Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences (1999), 29, 363-406; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry in Great Britain: the peculiar role of mathematics', Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (2000), 31B, 511-48.
3. Ana Simões, Converging Trajectories, Diverging Traditions: Chemical Bond, Valence, Quantum Mechanics and Chemistry, 1927-37, College Park, 1993; Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões, 'The Americans, the Germans and the beginnings of quantum chemistry: the confluence of diverging traditions', Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences (1994), 25, 47-110; Kostas Gavroglu, Fritz London: A Scientific Biography, Cambridge, 1995; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Different legacies and common aims: Robert Mulliken, Linus Pauling and the origins of quantum chemistry' in Conceptual Perspectives in Quantum Chemistry (ed. J.-L. Calais and E. S. Kryachko), Netherlands, 1997, 383-413; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry qua applied mathematics: the contributions of Charles Alfred Coulson (1910-74)', Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences (1999), 29, 363-406; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry in Great Britain: the peculiar role of mathematics', Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (2000), 31B, 511-48.
4. Ana Simões, Converging Trajectories, Diverging Traditions: Chemical Bond, Valence, Quantum Mechanics and Chemistry, 1927-37, College Park, 1993; Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões, 'The Americans, the Germans and the beginnings of quantum chemistry: the confluence of diverging traditions', Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences (1994), 25, 47-110; Kostas Gavroglu, Fritz London: A Scientific Biography, Cambridge, 1995; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Different legacies and common aims: Robert Mulliken, Linus Pauling and the origins of quantum chemistry' in Conceptual Perspectives in Quantum Chemistry (ed. J.-L. Calais and E. S. Kryachko), Netherlands, 1997, 383-413; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry qua applied mathematics: the contributions of Charles Alfred Coulson (1910-74)', Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences (1999), 29, 363-406; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry in Great Britain: the peculiar role of mathematics', Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (2000), 31B, 511-48.
5. Ana Simões, Converging Trajectories, Diverging Traditions: Chemical Bond, Valence, Quantum Mechanics and Chemistry, 1927-37, College Park, 1993; Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões, 'The Americans, the Germans and the beginnings of quantum chemistry: the confluence of diverging traditions', Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences (1994), 25, 47-110; Kostas Gavroglu, Fritz London: A Scientific Biography, Cambridge, 1995; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Different legacies and common aims: Robert Mulliken, Linus Pauling and the origins of quantum chemistry' in Conceptual Perspectives in Quantum Chemistry (ed. J.-L. Calais and E. S. Kryachko), Netherlands, 1997, 383-413; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry qua applied mathematics: the contributions of Charles Alfred Coulson (1910-74)', Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences (1999), 29, 363-406; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry in Great Britain: the peculiar role of mathematics', Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (2000), 31B, 511-48.
6. Ana Simões, Converging Trajectories, Diverging Traditions: Chemical Bond, Valence, Quantum Mechanics and Chemistry, 1927-37, College Park, 1993; Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões, 'The Americans, the Germans and the beginnings of quantum chemistry: the confluence of diverging traditions', Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences (1994), 25, 47-110; Kostas Gavroglu, Fritz London: A Scientific Biography, Cambridge, 1995; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Different legacies and common aims: Robert Mulliken, Linus Pauling and the origins of quantum chemistry' in Conceptual Perspectives in Quantum Chemistry (ed. J.-L. Calais and E. S. Kryachko), Netherlands, 1997, 383-413; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry qua applied mathematics: the contributions of Charles Alfred Coulson (1910-74)', Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences (1999), 29, 363-406; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry in Great Britain: the peculiar role of mathematics', Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (2000), 31B, 511-48.
7. Ana Simões, Converging Trajectories, Diverging Traditions: Chemical Bond, Valence, Quantum Mechanics and Chemistry, 1927-37, College Park, 1993; Kostas Gavroglu and Ana Simões, 'The Americans, the Germans and the beginnings of quantum chemistry: the confluence of diverging traditions', Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences (1994), 25, 47-110; Kostas Gavroglu, Fritz London: A Scientific Biography, Cambridge, 1995; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Different legacies and common aims: Robert Mulliken, Linus Pauling and the origins of quantum chemistry' in Conceptual Perspectives in Quantum Chemistry (ed. J.-L. Calais and E. S. Kryachko), Netherlands, 1997, 383-413; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry qua applied mathematics: the contributions of Charles Alfred Coulson (1910-74)', Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences (1999), 29, 363-406; Ana Simões and Kostas Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry in Great Britain: the peculiar role of mathematics', Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (2000), 31B, 511-48.
8. In this paper we often refer to areas such as theoretical physics, mathematical physics, applied mathematics or even theoretical (quantum) chemistry as if they are all basically consistent. There are certainly domains of problem common to all of them. At this point we make no further clarification, but simply note that the scientific careers of people such as Lennard-Jones, Hartree and Coulson reveal this same ambivalence. Most of them held chairs in at least two of the following subjects: theoretical physics, theoretical chemistry, applied mathematics and mathematical physics.
9. E. A. Milne, 'Ralph Howard Fowler, 1889-1944', Obituary Notices of the Fellows of the Royal Society of London (1945-8), 5, 61-78, 65, 66.
10. Milne, op. cit. (4), 61.
11. AHQP, interview with N. Mott.
12. José M. Sanchez-Ron, 'The reception of special relativity in Great Britain', in The Comparative Reception of Relativity (ed. Thomas F. Glick), Dordrecht, 1987, 27-58; A. Warwick, 'Einstein's theory of relativity and British physics in the early 20th century', Ideas and Production (1987), 7, 82-95; A. Warwick, 'The electrodynamics of moving bodies and the principle of relativity in British physics, 1894-1919', Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, 1989.
13. José M. Sanchez-Ron, 'The reception of special relativity in Great Britain', in The Comparative Reception of Relativity (ed. Thomas F. Glick), Dordrecht, 1987, 27-58; A. Warwick, 'Einstein's theory of relativity and British physics in the early 20th century', Ideas and Production (1987), 7, 82-95; A. Warwick, 'The electrodynamics of moving bodies and the principle of relativity in British physics, 1894-1919', Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, 1989.
14. José M. Sanchez-Ron, 'The reception of special relativity in Great Britain', in The Comparative Reception of Relativity (ed. Thomas F. Glick), Dordrecht, 1987, 27-58; A. Warwick, 'Einstein's theory of relativity and British physics in the early 20th century', Ideas and Production (1987), 7, 82-95; A. Warwick, 'The electrodynamics of moving bodies and the principle of relativity in British physics, 1894-1919', Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, 1989.
15. R. H. Fowler, 'A simple extension of Fourier's integral theorem and some physical applications, in particular to the theory of quanta', Proceedings of the Royal Society (1921), A22, 462-71.
16. AHQP, interview with N. Mott.
17. C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'The partition of energy', Philosophical Magazine (1922), 44, 450-79; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'The partition of energy II, Philosophical Magazine (1922), 44, 823-42; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'Fluctuations in an assembly in statistical equilibrium', Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (1922), 21, 391-404; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'Some refinements of the theory of dissociation equilibrium', Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (1923), 21, 730-45. Other papers were published by Fowler by himself.
18. C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'The partition of energy', Philosophical Magazine (1922), 44, 450-79; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'The partition of energy II, Philosophical Magazine (1922), 44, 823-42; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'Fluctuations in an assembly in statistical equilibrium', Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (1922), 21, 391-404; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'Some refinements of the theory of dissociation equilibrium', Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (1923), 21, 730-45. Other papers were published by Fowler by himself.
19. C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'The partition of energy', Philosophical Magazine (1922), 44, 450-79; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'The partition of energy II, Philosophical Magazine (1922), 44, 823-42; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'Fluctuations in an assembly in statistical equilibrium', Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (1922), 21, 391-404; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'Some refinements of the theory of dissociation equilibrium', Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (1923), 21, 730-45. Other papers were published by Fowler by himself.
20. C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'The partition of energy', Philosophical Magazine (1922), 44, 450-79; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'The partition of energy II, Philosophical Magazine (1922), 44, 823-42; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'Fluctuations in an assembly in statistical equilibrium', Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (1922), 21, 391-404; C. G. Darwin and R. H. Fowler, 'Some refinements of the theory of dissociation equilibrium', Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (1923), 21, 730-45. Other papers were published by Fowler by himself.
21. The Adams Prize Essay was revised and extended into the book Statistical Mechanics, Cambridge, 1929.
22. R. H. Fowler, 'On dense matter', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (1926), 87, 114.
23. G. N. Lewis, Valence and the Structure of Atoms and Molecules, New York, 1923. Reprinted by Dover Publications, 1966.
24. G. N. Lewis, 'Valence and the electron', Transactions of the Faraday Society (1923), 19, 452-8, 453.
25. R. H. Fowler, 'Bohr's atom in relation to the problem of covalency', Transactions of the Faraday Society (1923), 19, 459-68.
26. P. A. M. Dirac, 'Quantum theory of many-electron systems', Proceedings of the Royal Society (1929), A123, 714-33, 714.
27. R. H. Fowler, 'General forms of statistical mechanics with special reference to the requirements of the new quantum mechanics', Proceedings of the Royal Society (1926), A113, 432-49.
28. AHQP, notes taken by L. H. Thomas on 'The quantum theory of spectra', Lent Term 1923-4, Cavendish, and 'Recent developments of quantum theory', May 1925, Trinity College. There are also lecture notes on these same courses taken by P. A. M. Dirac. In the first course the following comment concerning the application of quantum theory to chemistry was made: Nothing definite has so far come from this theory as to chemical combination ... The general octet idea has, however, been of value, e.g. in the hands of Lewis and Kossel (and Langmuir). The octet seems to play a very fundamental part and the idea appears to be good that in molecules octets are made up by sharing e.g. ... 4 electrons, ... 2 electrons. This however, though not contrary to Bohr's theory has not been deduced from it.
29. AHQP, notes taken by L. H. Thomas on 'The quantum theory of spectra', Lent Term 1923-4, Cavendish, and 'Recent developments of quantum theory', May 1925, Trinity College. There are also lecture notes on these same courses taken by P. A. M. Dirac. In the first course the following comment concerning the application of quantum theory to chemistry was made: Nothing definite has so far come from this theory as to chemical combination ... The general octet idea has, however, been of value, e.g. in the hands of Lewis and Kossel (and Langmuir). The octet seems to play a very fundamental part and the idea appears to be good that in molecules octets are made up by sharing e.g. ... 4 electrons, ... 2 electrons. This however, though not contrary to Bohr's theory has not been deduced from it.
30. AHQP, letter from Fowler to Kronig, 25 May 1925.
31. AHQP, letter from Fowler to Kramers, 1 December 1925.
32. AHQP, letter from Kramers to Fowler, 9 December 1925.
33. William McCrea, 'Cambridge physics 1925-9: diamond jubilee of golden years', Interdisciplinary Science Review (1986), 11, 269-84, 277. Also quoted in A.D. Buckingham, 'Quantum chemistry', in Schrödinger, Centenary Celebration of a Polymath (ed. C. W. Kilmister), London, 1987, 112-18, 113.
34. William McCrea, 'Cambridge physics 1925-9: diamond jubilee of golden years', Interdisciplinary Science Review (1986), 11, 269-84, 277. Also quoted in A.D. Buckingham, 'Quantum chemistry', in Schrödinger, Centenary Celebration of a Polymath (ed. C. W. Kilmister), London, 1987, 112-18, 113.
35. R. H. Fowler, 'Matrix and wave mechanics', Nature (1927), 119, 239-41, 241.
36. McCrea, op. cit. (22), 280.
37. AHQP, interview with N. Mott.
38. AHQP, letters Fowler to Kramers, 13 October 1925, Fowler to Kramers, 27 October 1925, Fowler to Kramers, 17 November, 1925. These refer to the translation of some of Bohr's papers. In 1928 Fowler invited Kronig to stay in Cambridge for around fifteen days to give a set of six lectures on 'The structure of molecules and their spectra'. Letter from Fowler to Kronig, 30 October 1928. Later on, in 1933, Heisenberg was invited to give the Scott Lectures at the Cavendish, aimed at students of 'Physics and theoretical physics' and the more formal and public Rouse Ball Lecture in which the speaker was expected 'to discuss in a general way some aspects of Mathematics or Mathematical Physics'. Letter from Fowler to Heisenberg, 30 November 1933.
39. In 1929 he was invited by Goudsmidt to spend the summer at Ann Arbor, where efforts were being made to turn the University of Michigan into a 'center for theoretical physics during the summer semester'. AHQP, letter from Goudsmidt to Fowler, 12 March 1929. In a series of letters Fowler discussed the 'ability, personality and energy' of Thomas to substitute Slater at Harvard. AHQP, letters from Kemble to Fowler, 18 November 1933, Fowler to Kemble, 30 November 1933, Kemble to Fowler, 19 December 1933.
40. AHQP. In a letter to Fowler, 21 May 1932, Van Vleck suggested that, if he was looking for volumes to be published by Oxford University Press, Condon and Shortley's manuscript on atomic spectra might be of interest and contribute to overcoming the 'deficit of books on quantum mechanics as applied sufficiently in detail to problems of atomic structure, emphasizing the methods of Slater and the like'.
41. R. H. Fowler, Statistical Mechanics: The Theory of the Properties of Matter in Equilibrium Based on an Essay Awarded the Adams Prize in the University of Cambridge 1923-4, Cambridge, 1929. Fowler did not hesitate in asking for information on data to be used in the book. From the American physicist D. Dennison he asked for data concerning the shape, fundamental frequencies and moments of inertia of several polyatomic molecules for the applications of the theory to the specific heats and chemical constants. AHQP, letters from Fowler to Dennison, 12 September 1926, 16 October 1926.
42. R. H. Fowler, Statistical Mechanics: The Theory of the Properties of Matter in Equilibrium Based on an Essay Awarded the Adams Prize in the University of Cambridge 1923-4, 2nd edn., Cambridge, 1936.
43. R. H. Fowler and E. A. Guggenheim, Statistical Thermodynamics: A Version of Statistical Mechanics for Students of Physics and Chemistry, Cambridge, 1939.
44. AHQP, letter from Fowler to Kemble, 13 July 1937.
45. AHQP, interview with N. Mott.
46. For an extended discussion of the contributions to quantum chemistry of Lennard-Jones, Hartree and Coulson, see Simões and Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry in Great Britain', op. cit. (2).
47. R. H. Fowler, op. cit. (29), 217.
48. J. Lennard-Jones, 'The molecular orbital theory of chemical valency. I. The determination of molecular orbitals', Proceedings of the Royal Society (1949), A198, 1-13.
49. Bertha Swirles Jeffreys, 'Douglas Rayner Hartree (1897-1958)', Comments of Atomic and Molecular Physics (1987), 20, 189-98, 190. Original emphasis.
50. Jeffreys, op. cit. (37).
51. C. A. Coulson, 'Present state of molecular structure calculations', Reviews of Modern Physics (1960), 32, 170-7, 174.
52. For an extended discussion of the contributions of Coulson see Simões and Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry qua applied mathematics', op. cit. (2).
53. Among his papers are the notebooks containing his philosophical essays. SP, III-Notebooks. Item 24, philosophical essays 1895-6. Item 25, philosophical essays 1896-7.
54. Nevil Vincent Sidgwick, Organic Chemistry of Nitrogen, Oxford, 1910.
55. H. T. Tizard, 'Nevil Vincent Sidgwick - 1873-1952', Obituary Notices of the Fellows of the Royal Society of London (1954), 237-58, 242.
56. J. Roche, 'The non-medical sciences 1939-70', in The History of the University of Oxford. VIII. Twentieth Century (ed. B. H. Harrison), Oxford, 1994, 251-89.
57. Niels Bohr, Theory of Spectra and Atomic Constitution, Cambridge, 1924.
58. Lewis, op. cit. (13).
59. N. V. Sidgwick, 'Co-ordination compounds and the Bohr atom', Journal of the Chemical Society (1923), 123, 725-30.
60. N. V. Sidgwick, 'The nature of the non-polar link', Transactions of the Faraday Society (1923), 19, 469-75, 469.
61. N. V. Sidgwick, The Electronic Theory of Valency, Oxford, 1927.
62. Sidgwick, op. cit. (49), preface.
63. Linus Pauling, 'The nature of the chemical bond. Application of results obtained from the quantum mechanics and from a theory of paramagnetic susceptibility to the structure of molecules', Journal of the American Chemical Society (1931), 53, 1367-1400.
64. R. H. Fowler, 'A report on homopolar valency and its quantum mechanical interpretation', in Chemistry at the (1931) Centenary Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Cambridge, 1932, 226-46, 226.
65. Fowler, op. cit. (52), 226.
66. Fowler, op. cit. (52), 236.
67. W. Heisenberg, 'Contribution to discussion on the structure of simple molecules', in Chemistry at the Centenary Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Cambridge, 1932, 247-8, 247. The same sort of criticism was made by Wigner to Heitler. AHQP, interview with E. P. Wigner.
68. N. V. Sidgwick, Some Physical Properties of the Covalent Link in Chemistry, New York, 1933.
69. SP. V-Correspondence. Item 61, letter from Debye to Sidgwick, 16 November 1933.
70. SP. Item 49, lecture on 'Atomic cohesion', Edgar Fahs Smith Lecture, Philadelphia, 22 May 1931.
71. This lecture was first published as 'The relation of physics to chemistry', Science (1931), 73, 269-76.
72. Sidgwick, op. cit. (56), 13.
73. Sidgwick, op. cit. (56), 15-16.
74. Sidgwick, op. cit. (56), 16.
75. SP. V-Correspondence. Item 71, Rutherford, letter from Rutherford to Sidgwick, 26 July 1937.
76. N. V. Sidgwick, 'Wave mechanics and structural chemistry', Nature (7 April 1934), 529-30, 530.
77. Buhm Soon Park, 'Chemical translators: Pauling, Wheland and their strategies for teaching the theory of resonance', BJHS (1999), 32, 21-46. Tautomerism undermined the idea that a substance has one unique formula. It corresponds to the situation in which a substance can exist in two different forms, although it has proved impossible to separate the isomers. Isomerism is the phenomenon in which two or more substances have the same composition, yet show different properties owing to a different arrangement of their atoms.
78. SP. V-Correspondence. Item 68, letter from London to Sidgwick, 10 May 1934.
79. SP. V-Correspondence. Item 79. Sutton 1934-51, letter from Sutton to Hamp (abbreviation of Hampson), 11 March 1934.
80. SP. Item 52, 'Atomic cohesion', Edgar Fahs Smith Lecture, Philadelphia, 22 May 1931. Item 53, 'Some problems in molecular structure', Glasgow University Alchemists' Club, 13 February 1935. Item 55, 'Multiple links', Birkbeck College, 14 February 1938.
81. SP. Item 52, 'Atomic cohesion', Edgar Fahs Smith Lecture, Philadelphia, 22 May 1931. Item 53, 'Some problems in molecular structure', Glasgow University Alchemists' Club, 13 February 1935. Item 55, 'Multiple links', Birkbeck College, 14 February 1938.
82. SP. Item 52, 'Atomic cohesion', Edgar Fahs Smith Lecture, Philadelphia, 22 May 1931. Item 53, 'Some problems in molecular structure', Glasgow University Alchemists' Club, 13 February 1935. Item 55, 'Multiple links', Birkbeck College, 14 February 1938.
83. N. V. Sidgwick, 'Presidential address delivered at the annual general meeting, April 16th 1936 - structural chemistry', Journal of the Chemical Society (1936), 149, 533-8, 533.
84. Sidgwick, op. cit. (69), 538.
85. PP. Box 96. Sidgwick 1935-51. Correspondence, letter from Pauling to Sidgwick, 25 May 1936.
86. N. V. Sidgwick, 'Presidential address delivered at the annual general meeting, March 18th 1937 - hybrid molecules', Journal of the Chemical Society (1937), 151, 694-9, 694.
87. Mary Jo Nye, From Chemical Philosophy to Theoretical Chemistry, Berkeley, 1993.
88. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix B, 'Education, career, research', p. 1. The obituary notice by D. H. Whiffen, 'Leslie Ernest Sutton. 22 June 1906-30 October 1992', Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the Royal Society of London (1994), 40, 369-82, is based on Sutton's autobiographical considerations held in his archive.
89. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix B, 'Education, career, research', p. 1. The obituary notice by D. H. Whiffen, 'Leslie Ernest Sutton. 22 June 1906-30 October 1992', Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the Royal Society of London (1994), 40, 369-82, is based on Sutton's autobiographical considerations held in his archive.
90. SP. V-Correspondence. Item 80, testimonies for Sutton.
91. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix B, 'Education, career, research', p. 2.
92. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix B, 'Education, career, research', p. 3.
93. SP. V-Correspondence. Item 80, testimonies for Sutton.
94. Whiffen, op. cit. (74), 375.
95. Whiffen, op. cit. (74), 369.
96. L. E. Sutton, 'On the application of dielectric measurements to chemistry', Transitons of the Faraday Society (1946), 42A, 171-5.
97. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix B, 'Education, career, research', p. 3. In Ms. Eng.c. 5790. C4 there is the manuscript of the paper authored by Sutton, 'The significance of the difference of dipole moments between saturated and unsaturated compounds', together with four pages of comments and corrections made by Robinson. The paper was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society (1931), A133, 668-95.
98. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix B, 'Education, career, research', p. 3. In Ms. Eng.c. 5790. C4 there is the manuscript of the paper authored by Sutton, 'The significance of the difference of dipole moments between saturated and unsaturated compounds', together with four pages of comments and corrections made by Robinson. The paper was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society (1931), A133, 668-95.
99. SuP. Ms.Eng.d.2857. B.7. Hard-backed notebook containing work on 'Electron diffraction by vapours'. This folder contains directions for the use of the electron diffraction apparatus, specifications of the equipment, diagrams of apparatus and calibration with gold foil, as well as a description of substances measured during 1934.
100. SuP. Ms. Eng.c.5790. C.6, letter from Pauling to Sutton, 19 January 1935. The archives also include a manuscript of the paper by L. E. Sutton and L. O. Brockway, 'The electron diffraction investigation of the molecular structures of (1) chlorine monoxide, oxygen fluoride, dimethyl ether and 1,4-dioxane and of (2) methyl chloride, methylene chloride and chloroform, with some applications of the results', Journal of the American Chemical Society (1935), 57, 473-83.
101. SuP. Ms. Eng.c.5790. C.6, letter from Pauling to Sutton, 19 January 1935. The archives also include a manuscript of the paper by L. E. Sutton and L. O. Brockway, 'The electron diffraction investigation of the molecular structures of (1) chlorine monoxide, oxygen fluoride, dimethyl ether and 1,4-dioxane and of (2) methyl chloride, methylene chloride and chloroform, with some applications of the results', Journal of the American Chemical Society (1935), 57, 473-83.
102. L. E. Sutton, 'Electric dipole moments and resonance in molecules', Transactions of the Faraday Society (1934), 30, 789-801, 801. In Sutton's archives there is a manuscript of a paper, which does not appear in Sutton's list of publications, jointly authored by Sutton and Pauling entitled 'A simple wave mechanical discussion of the electric dipole moments of the hydrogen halides in solution', in which they provided a theoretical explanation of the behaviour of hydrogen halides in polarizable media to fit existing empirical data on their electric dipole moments. The explanation had recourse to resonance and considered it probable that the interaction between the hydrogen halide molecule and the solution was such as to change the coefficients of the wave function of the ionic and the covalent structures in the wave function of the actual molecule. SuP. Ms.Eng. d. 2857. C8.
103. SP. V-Correspondence. Item 79, Sutton - 1934-51, letter from Sutton to Sidgwick, 9 February 1934.
104. SP. V-Correspondence. Item 79, Sutton - 1934-51, letter from Sutton to Robinson, 25 March 1934.
105. SP. V-Correspondence. Item 79. Sutton - 1934-51. Letter from Sutton to Sidgwick, 5 June 1934.
106. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5791. C.13, letter from Sutton to Ronald Nyholm, 7 August 1952.
107. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix C, 'Research collaborators and their careers', p. 9.
108. Brebis Bleaney, 'The physical sciences in Oxford, 1918-39 and earlier', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London (1994), 48, 247-61; J. B. Morrell, 'The non-medical sciences 1914-39' in The History of the University of Oxford. VIII. Twentieth Century (ed. B. H. Harrison), Oxford, 1994, 139-63; J. Roche, op. cit. (44).
109. Brebis Bleaney, 'The physical sciences in Oxford, 1918-39 and earlier', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London (1994), 48, 247-61; J. B. Morrell, 'The non-medical sciences 1914-39' in The History of the University of Oxford. VIII. Twentieth Century (ed. B. H. Harrison), Oxford, 1994, 139-63; J. Roche, op. cit. (44).
110. Brebis Bleaney, 'The physical sciences in Oxford, 1918-39 and earlier', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London (1994), 48, 247-61; J. B. Morrell, 'The non-medical sciences 1914-39' in The History of the University of Oxford. VIII. Twentieth Century (ed. B. H. Harrison), Oxford, 1994, 139-63; J. Roche, op. cit. (44).
111. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix B, 'Education, career, research', p. 11.
112. CP. Ms. Coulson 156, letter from Coulson to Sutton, 26 May 1948; letter from Sutton to Coulson, 9 August 1948; letter from Coulson to Sutton, 10 August 1948; letter from Sutton to Coulson, 2 March 1949; letter from Coulson to Sutton, 4 March 1949.
113. CP. Ms. Coulson 156. Letter from Sutton to Coulson, 13 December 1948; Comments from Dr L. E. Sutton, Magdalen College, Oxford; letter from Coulson to Sutton, 24 July 1950.
114. CP. Ms. Coulson 156, letter from Sutton to Coulson, 30 October 1947; letter Coulson to Sutton, 26 May 1948.
115. For more details on the conference see Sim̃oes and Gavroglu, 'Quantum chemistry qua applied mathematics', op. cit. (2), 390-3. In SuP. Ms.Eng.c.5796 one finds the letter written by Mulliken to all the participants, of 13 July 1951. In his copy Sutton scribbled on the programme for Saturday morning, 'Theory of dipole moments might come in here. I should favor this if there is time.'
116. CP. Ms. Coulson 156, letter from Sutton to Coulson, 3 July 1950; letter from Sutton to Coulson, 6 July 1950; letter from Sutton to Coulson, 19 June 1950; letter from Coulson to Sutton, 24 July 1950.
117. L. E. Orgel, T. E. Cottrell, W. Dick and L. E. Sutton, 'The calculation of the electric dipole moments of some conjugated heterocyclic compounds', Transactions of the Faraday Society (1951), 47, 113-19.
118. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix B, 'Education, career, research', pp. 5-6.
119. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix B, 'Education, career, research', p. 6. C. A. Coulson, A. Maccoll and L. E. Sutton, 'The polarizability of molecules in strong electric fields', Transactions of the Faraday Society (1952), 48, 106-13.
120. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix B, 'Education, career, research', p. 6. C. A. Coulson, A. Maccoll and L. E. Sutton, 'The polarizability of molecules in strong electric fields', Transactions of the Faraday Society (1952), 48, 106-13.
121. SuP. Ms.Eng.C.5789. A.2. Appendix B, 'Education, career, research', p. 4.
122. L. E. Sutton, 'The present state of valency theory', Journal of the Chemical Society (1940), 544-53, 545.
123. Sutton, op. cit. (102), 547.
124. Sutton, op. cit. (102), 548.
125. Sutton, op. cit. (102), 553.
126. C. A. Coulson, 'The contributions of wave mechanics to chemistry', Journal of the Chemical Society (1955), 2069-84.
127. Dirac, op. cit. (16), 714.
128. Coulson, op. cit. (106), 2069.
129. Coulson, op. cit. (106), 2069-70.
130. Coulson, op. cit. (106), 2084.
131. Sidgwick, op. cit. (69), 533, italics ours.