Several nomograms and similar computational devices have been found useful in the analysis and interpretation of data from the reaction $Li^{6}(n,\alpha)H^{3}$ in photographic emulsions. Three of these are discussed here: (1) a slide rule to determine from measurements on a track with the triton in a small forward cone, what the track length would have been if the triton had gone exactly forward; (2) a nomogram to determine the true alpha‐triton angle from its measured projection in the plane of the emulsion; (3) a device for determining, from measurements on a track, the angle between the emulsion and the incident neutron giving rise to the track.

Dr Mary Boas: A career in instructing others was inherited from the school teacher mother of this DePaul physics professor. A further influence was a liking for all types of mathematics and the application of principles; this eventually caused Dr Boas to choose physics as her major field. Dr Boas has been teaching part-time for twenty years, combining marriage and raising a family with a career. This is her first year at DePaul.

... in addition to teaching, Mary was active with the "newly-established DePaul chapter of Sigma Pi Sigma in 1973 … a branch of the only national physics honour society in the U.S." In the 1973 DePaulian group photo, Sigma Pi Sigma members including Boas are identified as "attempting to popularise physics on campus by sponsoring speakers, discussion groups, and informal get-togethers with faculty." Mary Boas taught physics at DePaul until her retirement in 1987.

Boas has adopted one of a number of possible views as to how undergraduates majoring in the physical sciences should learn mathematics. This viewpoint is that such students need a utilitarian knowledge of a variety of material concerning analysis, special functions, vector analysis, and so on in order to pursue their studies of the physical sciences and that furthermore, this material should be presented in a single course.

For self-study by students at the intended level, this is clearly the best-written text I have ever seen.

It has been traditional to have a course for graduate students in mathematical methods of physics. A similar course at the undergraduate (say sophomore-junior) level has never become very customary and I think this is too bad. At the present time the usual physics major "picks up" much of his knowledge of mathematical techniques in his physics courses. The few mathematics courses he does take go into much greater detail than he finds either interesting or useful. Meanwhile the topics not studied in mathematics classes must be mastered from sketchy introductions in the physics textbooks. If the student is not overwhelmed by the new physical ideas he is trying to master, he is likely to be by the combination of new physics and a new mathematical technique presented simultaneously.

The physics teacher's counter argument here is that the motivation of the immediate use of a technique is very important and that for this reason the mathematics should not be taught separately. Years of experience have convinced me otherwise. It is quite possible in a mathematical physics course to tell the students enough about some of the simpler applications of the topic at hand to keep up interest.

Mathematics teachers may argue that the science major should study mathematics with as much detailed proof as mathematics majors. My only objection to this is lack of time to cover so many courses. What alternative is there?

After about ten years' experience with a course at DePaul University and writing a book (Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences, Wiley, New York, 1966), which we now use as our text, I think I am in a position to say that a mathematical physics course of about one year's length covering the needed topics can be given. How? First, such a course must be taught as a scientist's methods course and not as a mathematicians' theory course. This does not have to mean careless or incorrect teaching. I make a strong point of never teaching anything a student will ever have to unlearn. However, generality can be sacrificed with little loss at this stage. The special cases of theorems that are going to be needed are quite sufficient. Second, long and detailed proofs can be omitted; careful statements of the theorems can be substituted. With these two methods of condensation (limited generality and few proofs), we cover in one year the following topics: probability, infinite series, complex numbers, determinants and matrices, partial differentiation, multiple integrals, vector algebra and calculus, Fourier series, calculus of variations, transformation theory, diagonalization of matrices and applications, tensors, complex variables, special functions, Laplace and Fourier transforms, and partial differential equations.

Many physical problems lead to integrals that can be evaluated by contour integration, and sometimes there are poles on the contour. In practice, it usually is appropriate in such cases to express the result as a principal-value integral. Most textbooks treat each problem involving principal values individually by considering an indented contour and taking limits. We want to call the attention of users of the calculus of residues to a theorem which, although known, seems not to be well-known.

My mother, Mary L Boas, was a professor of physics at DePaul University in Chicago. My father, Ralph P Boas, was a professor of mathematics at Northwestern University and a prominent researcher, teacher, writer, editor, and translator; he was active in the affairs of both the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America. With such parents, had I not a predetermined future? I think not, for my two siblings showed no inclination to pursue a scientific or an academic career.

Certainly all three of us children were profoundly influenced by our parents' passion for teaching and learning. We absorbed by osmosis the conviction that every craft can be mastered through diligence. For instance, we observed that when our parents took up photography, they went so far as to convert the utility closet into a home darkroom to develop their own film; their gardening activities expanded to include forcing bulbs under lights in the basement, building window boxes, and constructing cold frames in the backyard; they taught themselves how to work with fibreglass in order to maintain a succession of small sailboats. ... my mother knew how to sew her own clothes, to make peach-plum jelly, and to wring a chicken's neck.

After her illustrious career, Dr Boas is happy to be able to offer a small repayment to the department where she got her start and encourage other women to be theoretical physicists. ... This is the first year the Boas Scholarship has been awarded. The scholarship recognises undergraduate women students in the Department of Physics for outstanding academic achievements.

I met Mary at the Lake Forest Park Garden Club and it is through that organisation that I have known her. When I first met her she was in her eighties and still actively engaged in her profession. She "complained" that the work on the third revision of her textbook was not going as fast as she would like. ... Mary was an inspiration to me and many of those around her. She was older than most in the garden club but was among the most technically knowledgeable. She kept the email list for the club and preferred to receive communications electronically. Mary was a very knowledgeable gardener and gave a presentation to the Lake Forest Park Garden Club last year on growing amaryllis. She grew tomato starts for the garden club plant sale every year and patiently explained the intricacies of growing them to new gardeners. She was generous with plants and information. She served on the garden club board of directors up until her death and was at the last Lake Forest Park Garden Club meeting, complete with oxygen tank and just a little help from friends.