Bertha Swirles

A non-relativistic quantum mechanical model for the internal conversion of gamma rays in nuclear transitions. Applications of what is now known as the Hartree-Fock approximation for many electron atoms. The influential and widely used text Methods of Mathematical Physics coauthored with husband Harold. Encouragement, inspiration, and training for many men and women studying mathematics and physics. "The Coefficients of Absorption and Opacity of a Partially Degenerate Gas" Proc. Roy. Soc. A 141: 554 (1933) "The Relativistic Interaction of Two Electrons in the Self-Consistent Field Method" Proc. Roy. Soc. A 157: 680 (1936) "Tidal Friction in Historical Time and in the Remote Past." ibid., 73: 765 (1983). Translation from the Russian of Nutation and Forced Motion of the Earth's Pole by Ye. P. Fedorov; Pergamon Press, 1963. Collected Papers of Sir Harold Jeffreys on Geophysics and Other Science Vols. 3-6, Sir Harold Jeffreys and Bertha Swirles (Lady Jeffreys), ed.; Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, New York and London, 1971-77. First Class Honours, Mathematical Tripos Parts I (1922) and II (1924), Cambridge University. Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University, The Open University (UK) 1996. Her father, who died in 1905, was a leather salesman, and her mother a primary school teacher.