270 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



procedure. The Committee desires to record its appreciation of the 

 valuable work which Dr. Airey performed as a computer, of the generosity 

 which placed his skill and experience at the service of his friends, and of 

 the patience with which as Secretary he conducted the affairs of the Com- 

 mittee during the difficult period of reconstruction after the war. 



Prof. Alfred Lodge, who died on i December, 1937, attended his first 

 meeting of the British Association in 1883. He became a Life Member in 

 1886 and was a member of Council from 1913 to 1915. In 1888 he joined 

 the first Committee set up by Section A ' for the purpose of considering the 

 possibility of calculating certain mathematical functions and, if necessary, of 

 taking steps to carry out the calculations, and to publish the results in an 

 accessible form.' From that year Prof. Lodge was actively concerned 

 with the tabulation work of the Association until the day of his death, and 

 a very great deal of computation work lies to his credit, particularly in connect- 

 ion with Bessel functions. The Committee records with gratitude its 

 appreciation of the patient and valuable work Prof. Lodge did as a computer, 

 of the services which he rendered to the Committee in many capacities, and 

 of the charm of character which made him the personal friend of every 

 member. 



Dr. Thompson has succeeded Prof. Lodge as Vice-Chairman. 



Employment of Computers. — In the last Report mention was made of the 

 employment of a full-time computer, to work mainly on the Committee's 

 National Accounting Machine at the Galton Laboratory, by kind permission 

 of Prof. Fisher. Mr. F. H. Cleaver, who was appointed to the post in 

 January, 1937, remained fully employed under the personal direction of 

 several members of the Committee, and under the immediate supervision 

 of Mr. Stevens, until he resigned the post on 9 May, 1938. He has been 

 succeeded by Mr. H. O. Hartley, who took up his duties on 13 June. The 

 Committee has arranged for the demonstration of its machine at the 

 Cambridge meeting, as part of a general demonstration of the possibilities 

 of a number of modern calculating machines in scientific computing work. 



The other machines belonging to the Committee have been in continuous 

 use, and the Committee records with gratitude the voluntary services 

 rendered in this connection by Mr. C. E. Gwyther. A number of part- 

 time computers have been engaged from time to time under the direction 

 of members of the Committee, and the Committee once more gratefully 

 acknowledges the facilities offered by the Mathematical Laboratory of the 

 University of Liverpool for the carrying out of computation under the 

 supervision of Dr. Miller. 



Bessel Functions. — The Committee's sixth volume, being the first volume 

 devoted to Bessel functions and containing the four principal functions of 

 orders o to i, was published at the end of 1937. The volume was dedicated 

 to Prof. Lodge, who, however, did not live to see the tables published. 



The work of the Bessel Function Sub-committee on the preparation of a 

 second volume has been to some extent exploratory, and good progress has 

 been made in the calculations. During the year the following fundamental 

 tables have been completed in readiness for sub-tabulation where necessary : 



yn{x) = x"y«(x) M = 0(1)20 jc = o-o(o-i)6-o 14 figures. 



y„(x) n= 0,1,2, jc = 6-o(o- 1)21 -o 15 figures. 



in{x) = x'"In(x) n = 0(1)22 X = o-o(o-i)6-o 15 figures. 



log inlx) M = 20, 21 X = 6-o(o-i)20-o isfigurcs. . 



I„lx) n = 0(1)21 X = o-o(o-i)6-o i8 figures, 



log In{x) n = 20, 21 X = 6-o(o- 1)20-0 15 figures. 



In{x) n = 0(1)21 X = 6-o(o-i)io-o 15 figures. 



