23 February, 1958

Dearest Mamma,

You are a love and I love you. Thank you for the card and the present and the letter for my birthday. I was happy to get them. I was in bed with a cold when you were in New York, and then Julia had the flu. Thomas has been a little poorly with cold and his molars. Just now, we are all more or less well.

Thomas is growing great guns and is such fun.

Thank you for the Christmas presents. The cereals are all gone. They were lovely. But we still have some springerle and of course most of the cake. The cookies and cake are lovely. I do not know that Thomas likes the taste of springerle, but they are nice and hard and good for his teeth.

I hope you do not mind my writing to you with this machine; it is faster and easier.

Are you going to come see us this summer? I hope that we shall be able to go away far a holiday, Julia and Thomas need a little jaunt.

We spent a weekend with the Hodgkin's about a month ago. They are so fine. I certainly like Thomas. There is so much to talk about and to learn.

Love from

Peter

23 February, 1958

Dear Daddy,

Thank you for your letter enclosing your petition and statement and my report of earnings from the Institute.

Would you please send me an income tax return form if you can arrange it easily? Your letter indicates you can send it. I shall also send you a statement of books. I realize that I have been very slow with the water paper. I have all the interatomic distances and am applying the Gaussian function, for the four structures. Do you think it worth while to discuss the thermodynamic properties of water or the solution effects? It seems to me that the vague spherical model of Pople is easier to use in a calculation of thermodynamic properties, but perhaps we should say something. I have not tried to learn the details of solution effects, it seemed to me to require a great deal of study, but you should be able to say immediately if there would be any evidence available for any model.

The cubic nickel structure is coming along well. I shall have it soon.

The people in the college are hopeful that you will be able to come to their do, and think that your lack of reply is a good sign, that you are trying to fix up an itinerary. I hope this is true, we should be very pleased for you to come.

Love from

Peter

P.S. I shall get off the water results as soon as possible.

I think Desmond’s channels are too narrow for things such as your petition. I, for instance, never heard about the possibility of my signing. I do not really know where to find a wider circle. Perhaps K. Lonsdale. I should expect the petition to be up in every laboratory, but it was not. It is just that the usual semi-political channel is too narrow.