Blessed Plot: a diagram of the molecular structure of insulin from 1968(blogs.mhs.ox.ac.uk)
blogs.mhs.ox.ac.uk
Blessed Plot: a diagram of the molecular structure of insulin from 1968
http://blogs.mhs.ox.ac.uk/insidemhs/blessed-plot-inside-mhs-blog/
6 comments
A descendent of pluto is still in use: http://www.cryst.chem.uu.nl/spek/platon/pl010000.html
See also: http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/ccd/graphics/p012.htm
See also: http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/ccd/graphics/p012.htm
See also http://www.ccp4.ac.uk/dist/html/npo.html, which I'm surprised to see is still there, and fittingly also has Phil Evan's name on it. Note the production of stereo plots which needed practice looking at in the right way to get the effect.
Fascinating.
The Chemical Heritage Museum in Philadelphia also has some exhibits of electron cloud models from the same time period, similar to the penicillin model in this article.
Some photos here: http://imgur.com/a/xcJxn
Their caption says,
> For over a decade X-ray crystallographer Roget Burnett toted around the world the bits and pieces of his project of determining the structure of an adenovirus coat protein. He crystallized his protein while a postdoc at the University of Michigan. In 1973 he carried these tiny crystals in capillary tubes to the University of Basel. For the next seven years he and his associates made hundreds of X-ray photographs of crystals. These photographs were transformed (several steps later) into unwieldy plastic sheets showing electron densities at cross-sections of the protein. In 1980 Burnett transported these sheets to Columbia University, where his team examined them to precisely locate the protein's atoms. In 1984 they turned to early computer graphics to model the molecule. Today computers expedite nearly all these steps.
I really like the method of visualizing the electron cloud by printing out many transparent plastic sheets and then stacking them; it's looks very stylish!
Some photos here: http://imgur.com/a/xcJxn
Their caption says,
> For over a decade X-ray crystallographer Roget Burnett toted around the world the bits and pieces of his project of determining the structure of an adenovirus coat protein. He crystallized his protein while a postdoc at the University of Michigan. In 1973 he carried these tiny crystals in capillary tubes to the University of Basel. For the next seven years he and his associates made hundreds of X-ray photographs of crystals. These photographs were transformed (several steps later) into unwieldy plastic sheets showing electron densities at cross-sections of the protein. In 1980 Burnett transported these sheets to Columbia University, where his team examined them to precisely locate the protein's atoms. In 1984 they turned to early computer graphics to model the molecule. Today computers expedite nearly all these steps.
I really like the method of visualizing the electron cloud by printing out many transparent plastic sheets and then stacking them; it's looks very stylish!
It's nice to see Eleanor Dodson cropping up here, long a leading light of http://www.ccp4.ac.uk, which might be the most successful UK scientific computing effort.
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/plan_your_visit/... (scroll down for a model by Hodgkins' group)
http://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/co13671/fores...
Also, on the aesthetic side of things, there was a famous "transfer" of crystallographic atomic patterns into decorative work at the Festival of Britain (1951): https://wellcomecollection.org/exhibitions/atoms-patterns