Re: [ccp4bb] A bit of history: John W Backus obit

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CCP4bb <-- 2007 <-- March 2007 <-- 20 March 2007

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Subject: Re: A bit of history: John W Backus obit
From: Robert Sweet sweet {- at -} BNL {- dot -} GOV
Date: 2007-03-20

I'm pretty sure that the crystallographer was David Sayre. I also believe
(not documented well enough for wikipedia, but perhaps for here)
that IBM were so pleased with this performance that they made David an IBM
Fellow, which meant that he could do anything he wanted for the rest of
his life. Here's what he decided to do:

He's known in crystallography for the Sayre Equation, a fundamental
relationship in direct methods. Also, maybe not so well known, he was a
major driving force behind the method of visualizing single molecules or
cells from diffraction patterns: J. Miao, H. N. Chapman, J. Kirz, D.
Sayre and K. O. Hodgson, TTaking X-ray Diffraction to the Limit:
Macromolecular Structures from Femtosecond X-ray Pulses and Diffraction
Microscopy of Cells with Synchrotron Radiation, Annu. Rev. Biophys.
Biomol. Struct. 33, 157-176 (2004).

He and I used to use adjacent darkrooms at the NSLS for developing x-ray
films (the '80's). I'd meet him on the long walk, ask what he was doing,
and smile sympathetically when he said he was going to image single yeast
cells. Well, they're essentially doing it now. One never want's to
underestimate David Sayre's ability to find phases.

When David retired from IBM and his adjunct appointment at SUNY Stony
Brook one of his old buddies from the FORTRAN project spoke at the
symposium. Perhaps it was Backus. They both said that the period of
developing that language in a small team was one of the happiest times of
their lives.

Don't take this as fact, but this is what I remember.

Bob

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007, Bart Hazes wrote:

> The storey also made it to the CNN business page and they add...
>
> The Fortran programming language, which was a huge leap forward in easing the
> creation of computer software, was released in 1957, said the report.
>
> Backus launched his research project at IBM (Charts) four years earlier,
> assembling a diverse team of 10, including a chess wizard, a crystallographer
> and a cryptographer, said the Times.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Full story @:
> http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/20/news/newsmakers/backus/index.htm?postversion=2007032008
>
> Bart
>
>
> P.Artymiuk wrote:
>> A bit of history: NY Times obituary for John W. Backus, 82, developer of
>> Fortran, without which CCP4 and much else would not have been possible.
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/obituaries/20cnd-backus.html?ex=1332043200&en=adde3ee5a1875330&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
>>
>> Pete A
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>

--
=========================================================================
Robert M. Sweet E-Dress: sweet@bnl.gov
Group Leader, PXRR: Macromolecular ^ (that's L
Crystallography Research Resource at NSLS not 1)
http://px.nsls.bnl.gov/
Biology Dept
Brookhaven Nat'l Lab. Phones:
Upton, NY 11973 631 344 3401 (Office)
U.S.A. 631 344 2741 (Facsimile)
=========================================================================

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