The Development of Computational Chemistry in Canada

Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J3 

The development of computational chemistry in Canada is inextricably linked with the emergence of theoretical chemistry as one of Canada s strongest scientific disciplines. For this reason, the present account chronicles the history of both computational and theoretical chemistry in Canada. 

The first theoretical chemists were appointed to Canadian universities in the mid- to late 1950s, long after strong traditions for theoretical chemistry had been established in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. Furthermore, many of the first Canadian theoreticians often carried out experiments or maintained experimental laboratories in departments of chemistry in which the dominant figures were typically experimental physical chemists or organic chemists with a penchant for natural products and synthesis. 

The late development of theoretical chemistry in Canada was a consequence of the relatively weak research base in Canadian universities prior to 1950. In fact, research in Canadian universities during the first half of the twentieth century lagged seriously behind that of the leading universities of the major industrialized nations. Only McGill University and the University of 

Reviews in Computational Chemistry, Volume 15 Kenny B. Lipkowitz and Donald B. Boyd, Editors Wiley-VCH, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 2000 

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Russell J. Boyd, The Development of Computational Chemistry in Canada. 

Larry A. Curtiss, Paul C. Redferm and David J, BVurip, Theoretical Methods for Computing Enthalpies of Formation of Gaseous Compounds. Russel J. Boyd, The Development of Computational Chemistry in Canada. 

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