When, forty years ago, as a student of Charles Coulson in Oxford I began work in theoretical chemistry, I was provided with a Brunsviga calculator-a small mechanical device with a handle for propulsion, metal levers for setting the numbers, and a bell that rang to indicate overflow. What has since come to be known as computational chemistry was just beginning. There followed a long period in which the fundamental theory of the "golden age" (1925-1935) was extended and refined and in which the dreams of the early practitioners were gradually turned into hard arithmetic reality. As a...
When, forty years ago, as a student of Charles Coulson in Oxford I began work in theoretical chemistry, I was provided with a Brunsviga calculator-a s...
