Obituary—John R. Booker

was widely regarded as one of the finest researchers of his generation working in the field of theoretical Geomechanics. It was his supreme skill in devising rigorous theoretical solutions to many important but difficult practical problems that set John apart, and also underpinned the research of the geotechnical group at the University of Sydney, Australia for many years. His solutions to these problems were both elegant and accessible; they are used widely in engineering practice. The inspired analysis he developed to obtain these solutions usually contained a special piece of magic, often placed just before the final step.