The first in the Focus Series on Global Science Education, The Whys of a Scientific Life examines why scientists do what they do. Working from a diverse background in scientific research, including ac
Being, or wanting to become, a scientist requires academic training in the science subjects. To succeed as a research scientist and educator also requires specific as well as general skills. Skills fo
A long established research crystallographer, John Helliwell, provides his perspectives on crystallography, one of the most multidisciplinary sciences, having its roots in fields as varied as mathemat
This highly illustrated monograph provides a comprehensive study of the structure and function of proteins, nucleic acids and viruses using synchrotron radiation and crystallography. Synchrotron radiation is intense, polychromatic and finely collimated, and is highly effective for probing the structure of macromolecules. This is a fast-expanding field, and this timely monograph gives a complete introduction to the technique and its uses. Beginning with chapters on the fundamentals of macromolecular crystallography and macromolecular structure, the book goes on to review the sources and properties of synchrotron radiation, instrumentation and data collection. There are chapters on the Laue method, on diffuse X-ray scattering and on variable wavelength dispersion methods. The book concludes with a description and survey of applications including studies at high resolution, the use of small crystals, the study of large unit cells, and time-resolved crystallography (particularly of enzymes
The crystallization of proteins and nucleic acids and/or their complexes has become more highly automated but is still often a trial and error based approach. In parallel, a number of X-ray diffracti
