ISSN 1467-2790 CRYSTALLOGRAPHY British Crystallographic Association NEWS No. 87 December 2003 BCA Spring Meeting - UMIST 2004 p15 - 19 Reports from ECM Durban p7 - 12 Growing a Diamond p13 - 14 William Cochran 1922 - 2003 p25 - 26 Book Reviews p22 - 24 QUARTERLY Contents December 2003 Contents BCA Administrative Office, Northern Networking Ltd, 1 Tennant Avenue, From the President . 2 College Milton South, East Kilbride, Glasgow G74 5NA Council Members. 3 Scotland, UK Tel: + 44 1355 244966 Fax: + 44 1355 249959 From the Editor/Corporate Members . 4 e-mail: [email protected] Communications to the Editor . 5 Euan Woodward . 5 NEXT ISSUE OF CRYSTALLOGRAPHY NEWS Prizes . 6 CRYSTALLOGRAPHY NEWS is Published quarterly (March, June, Puzzle Corner . 6 September and December) by the British Crystallographic Durban . 7 - 12 Association. Submissions on any subject related to crystallography are most welcome. If possible, BCA Spring Meeting 2003 Accounts . 12 please send text electronically without special formatting. Diamond . 13 - 14 Pictures are most welcome, but should be sent as separate, graphic files. Items for inclusion in BCA Spring Meeting 2004 . 15 - 19 the March 2004 issue should reach the Editor by 25 January 2004. Protein Structure Workshop . 20 - 22 BOB GOULD 33 Charterhall Road Book Reviews . 22 - 24 EDINBURGH EH9 3HS Tel: 0131 667 7230 E-mail: [email protected] Obituary - Bill Cochran . 25 - 26 Patenting Software. 27 - 28 The British Crystallographic Association is a Registered Charity (#284718) Young Chemists . 28 - 29 As required by the DATA PROTECTION ACT, the BCA is notifying members that we store your contact information on a computer database to simplify our administration. These details are not divulged to any EUROMAT 2003 . 29 - 30 others without your permission. You may inspect your entry during the Annual Meeting, or otherwise by application to the BCA Administrative Office. We will be happy to amend entries at any time. CCG Group. 30 Meetings of Interest . 31 - 32 COVER PICTURES (left to right) This is a crystallography text? p.23 And finally . 33 There’s diamond in them thar hills p.13 Crystallographers at Durban? p.7 Farewell to a well-kent face p.5 See you in Manchester p.15 p23 p13 p7 p5 p15 1 From the President December 2003 largely consist of talks/contributions who had also attended a satellite President’s Remarks from them. This is partly a meeting “up country” beforehand. successor to the highly successful Next year’s ECM returns to “oral poster” sessions, but also an continental Europe, and will be experiment in empowering the held in Budapest in late August. many Young Crystallographers who already contribute vigorously to the On a more organisational note, you BCA and allowing them more of an will have noticed from a recent active role within the Spring circular that we have apparently Meeting. We will also take this lost some members this year. We in opportunity to revive the Lonsdale Council are sure that much of this lecture, which has not been given apparent loss is forgetfulness on for several years. This fits extremely the part of some of our members. well, since the original vision for Let me reiterate that a strong that lecture was for it to be membership is vital to the BCA and delivered to an audience of what we are trying to achieve in younger people. We hope that the terms of projecting UK You will find in this issue of Young Crystallographers meeting crystallography. So if you know of Crystallography News the outline will also provide an important focus someone who has not renewed programme for the 2004 BCA for those arriving early for the main their BCA membership, please Spring meeting, to be held in meeting. remind them that they are valuable Manchester next April. I am sure to us, and also that we believe the you will agree that an interesting I would like to note (though continuing low level of our general and diverse programme is forming, probably too late to encourage you membership fees make the BCA a and hopefully you will find plenty to attend by the time you read this) real bargain to join! On the there to tempt you along to UMIST. the extremely strong set of Autumn membership note, it was agreed at Why not also spread the word to meetings organised by the subject Council in September that we colleagues who would not normally groups. In parallel with our overall would try to set up a network of attend the Spring Meeting, to help focus of the Annual Spring contacts out there in University us grow the meeting as an annual meeting, these group meetings are Departments, who will hopefully focus for crystallography and one of the main academic outputs help us in targeting likely members related structural science in the UK. of the BCA, and I would hope to and in publicising BCA activities. The Plenary/Review Symposium continue seeing the successful Our local BCA Reps can really play theme this year is Catalysis in its science and strong attendances at an active role in helping to many guises, and it is anticipated these meetings. promote what we do, in terms of that this theme will be developed our charitable Education remit, our in further sessions, including some Speaking of meetings, it was clear organisation of a range of diverse relevant talks in aspects of the that the UK presence at the ECM-21 scientific meetings, and generally Molecules in Medicine sessions. in Durban was significant and promoting and projecting UK Suggestions of topics or sessions for prominent. After some teething crystallography. We will be aiming our Spring Meetings are always troubles the conference was to set up this network of Reps welcome, and we will be pleased to generally enjoyed by the 500 or so soon, volunteers are of course most hear your ideas. The 2005 SM, delegates present. This number is welcome! incidentally, will be held at of course lower than usual for an Loughborough, in the excellent ECM, which is largely explained by Finally, we have slightly updated conference facilities at the the remoteness of the location from our presence on the Web, and the University there. the European mainstream. BCA Web pages can now be However, our South African hosts accessed through You will also note that on the day are to be thanked for working so www.crystallography.org.uk, which before the SM, we are planning a hard to make the meeting a success, seemed to us rather appropriate for Young Crystallographers satellite in particular Jan Boeyens and Andre the UK organisation for meeting. The details of this are still Roodt. The cultural experiences of crystallography. being formed, but will be organised South Africa were a much by our younger colleagues and appreciated bonus for this delegate Chick Wilson 2 Council Members 2003-2004 BCA Council Members Group Representatives Webmaster Dr Jeremy K. Cockcroft 2003 - 2004 Biological Structures School of Crystallography Dr. Andrea Hadfield Birkbeck College President (2006) Department of Biochemistry, Malet Street Prof. Chick Wilson, University of Bristol LONDON WC1E 7HX, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, BRISTOL BS8 1TD, tel: 020 7631 6849 ISIS Facility, tel: 0117 928 7436, [email protected] CHILTON OX11 0QX [email protected] tel: 01235 82 1900 ext 5137 or 01235 44 5137 Chemical Crystallography Group Chairmen [email protected] Dr Harry Powell MRC Lab. of Molecular Biology Biological Structures Group Vice President (2004) MRC Centre Dr. Richard Pauptit Prof. Paul Fewster Hills Road Protein Structure Lab PANalytical Research Centre CAMBRIDGE CB2 2QH AstraZeneca, Sussex Innovation Centre tel: 01223 402423 Mereside, Science Park Square [email protected] Alderley Park, University of Sussex MACCLESFIELD SK10 4TG, Falmer, BRIGHTON BN1 9SB Industrial tel: 01625-516135 tel: 01273 704422 Prof. Christopher S. Frampton [email protected] [email protected] Crystallography Strategic Marketing Manager, Chemical Crystallography Group Secretary (2004) Bruker Nonius B.V. Dr Alexander J. Blake Dr. Christine Cardin Oostingel 209, School of Chemistry, University of Reading University of Nottingham Dept of Chemistry 2612 HL Delft, The Netherlands University Park Whiteknights tel: +31 (0)15 215 25 19 NOTTINGHAM NG7 2RD READING RG6 6AD [email protected] tel: 0118 9318215 Tel. 0115 9513488 [email protected] Physical Crystallography [email protected] Dr John Evans Treasurer (2006) Department of Chemistry, Industrial Group Mr. David J. Taylor University of Durham, Prof. Christopher S. Frampton 35 Birchley Road, DURHAM DH1 3LE, Crystallography Strategic Billinge [email protected] Marketing Manager, WIGAN WN5 7QJ Bruker Nonius B.V. tel: 01744 893108 Oostingel 209, [email protected] 2612 HL Delft, The Netherlands Co-opted Members tel: +31 (0)15 215 25 19 Immediate Past-President (2004) [email protected] Prof. Chris J. Gilmore Prof. P. Barnes, Department of Chemistry Department of Crystallography, Physical Crystallography Group University of Glasgow Birkbeck College, Dr P.A. Thomas GLASGOW G12 8QQ Malet Street, Department of Physics tel: 0141 330 3716 LONDON WC1E 7HX University of Warwick [email protected] tel: 020 7631 6817 COVENTRY CV4 7AL [email protected] tel. 0113 233 2538 Ordinary members [email protected] Dr Alexander J. Blake (2006) Professor John Helliwell School of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Full committee details on the University of Nottingham University of Manchester, BCA website University Park MANCHESTER, M13 9PL http://bca.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/BCA/ NOTTINGHAM NG7 2RD Tel. 0161 2754686 Tel. 0115 9513488 [email protected] [email protected] ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: BCA Sponsors Dr Elspeth F.