Samuel Francis (Frank) Boys (20 December 1911 – 16 October 1972) was a British

theoretical chemist Theoretical chemistry is the branch of chemistry which develops theoretical generalizations that are part of the theoretical arsenal of modern chemistry: for example, the concepts of chemical bonding, chemical reaction, valence, the surface ...

Education

Boys was born in Pudsey, Yorkshire, England. He was educated at the Grammar School in Pudsey and then at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. He graduated in Chemistry in 1932. He was awarded a PhD in 1937 from Cambridge for research conducted at Trinity College, supervised first by

Martin Lowry Thomas Martin Lowry (; 26 October 1874 – 2 November 1936) was an English physical chemist who developed the Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory simultaneously with and independently of Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted and was a founder-member an ...

, and then, after Lowry's 1936 death, by John Lennard-Jones. His thesis was "The Quantum Theory of Optical Rotation".

Career

In 1938, Boys was appointed an Assistant Lecturer in

Mathematical Physics Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and t ...

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. He spent the whole of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

working on explosives research with the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...

at the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Britis ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

, with Lennard-Jones as his supervisor. After the war, Boys accepted an ICI Fellowship at Imperial College, London. In 1949, he was appointed to a Lectureship in theoretical chemistry at the University of Cambridge. He remained at Cambridge until his death. He was only elected to a Cambridge College Fellowship at University College, now Wolfson College, Cambridge, shortly before his death. Boys is best known for the introduction of

Gaussian orbital In computational chemistry and molecular physics, Gaussian orbitals (also known as Gaussian type orbitals, GTOs or Gaussians) are functions used as atomic orbitals in the LCAO method for the representation of electron orbitals in molecules and nume ...

s into ab initio

quantum chemistry Quantum chemistry, also called molecular quantum mechanics, is a branch of physical chemistry focused on the application of quantum mechanics to chemical systems, particularly towards the quantum-mechanical calculation of electronic contributions ...

. Almost all

basis sets Basis may refer to: Finance and accounting *Adjusted basis, the net cost of an asset after adjusting for various tax-related items *Basis point, 0.01%, often used in the context of interest rates *Basis trading, a trading strategy consisting of ...

used in

computational chemistry Computational chemistry is a branch of chemistry that uses computer simulation to assist in solving chemical problems. It uses methods of theoretical chemistry, incorporated into computer programs, to calculate the structures and properties of m ...

now employ these orbitals. Frank Boys was also one of the first scientists to use digital computers for calculations on polyatomic molecules. An International Conference, entitled "Molecular Quantum Mechanics: Methods and Applications" was held in memory of S. Francis Boys and in honour of

Isaiah Shavitt Isaiah Shavitt was a Polish-born Israeli and American theoretical chemist. He was born Isaiah Kruk on July 29, 1925 in Kutno, Poland but his family moved to what would become Israel in 1929. After undergraduate degrees in chemistry (1950) and chemi ...

in September 1995 at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

.
The lost Boys of quantum chemistry
' by Dermot Martin,

Chemistry World ''Chemistry World'' is a monthly chemistry news magazine published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The magazine addresses current events in world of chemistry including research, international business news and government policy as it affects ...

, 30 July 2010
The scientific contributions of S. F. Boys
' by Robert G. Parr,

International Journal of Quantum Chemistry The ''International Journal of Quantum Chemistry'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing original, primary research and review articles on all aspects of quantum chemistry, including an expanded scope focusing on aspects of materials sc ...

, 21/27 January 1973

Awards and honours

Boys was a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1972, a few months before his death.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boys, S. Francis 1911 births 1972 deaths People from Pudsey Alumni of Imperial College London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of University College, Cambridge English chemists Members of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science Fellows of the Royal Society Theoretical chemists Computational chemists Mathematical chemistry