Dear Ian,
it seems we have drifted a bit from the original thread. Maybe this is a
good point to allow the discussion to settle.
Best regards,
Tim
On 11/29/2014 01:41 PM, Ian Tickle wrote:
> Hi Tim
>
> On 29 November 2014 at 10:16, Tim Gruene <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> I want to improve
>> crystallographic methods because people who solve crystal structures
>> want an answer to a biological or chemical or physical question rather
>> than because they enjoy watching the realisation of a mathematical
>> definition.
>
>
> Surely it's not case of either/or? You need both a sound mathematical
> grounding of the methodology and a relevant real-world problem to apply it
> to. I think this is why crystallography, being such a cross-disciplinary
> subject, works so well. However you need to ensure that your maths is
> valid before you try to apply it to real-world problems, otherwise you
> obviously won't get a sensible answer to your biological question.
>
> I like Ken Follett's definition of a physicist, for whom
>> reality is a poor approximation to theory, but the motivation for my
>
> research runs the other way round.
>
>
> Really? The theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED), i.e. the theory of
> the interactions between radiation and matter, which is of course highly
> relevant to X-ray crystallography if not to just about every other branch
> of science requiring measurements, has been established with the incredible
> degree of agreement of 1 part in 100,000,000 between theory and
> experimental data. It's the most accurate theory ever devised by man to
> explain physical phenomena.
>
> Follett studied philosophy at University College London before taking up
> fiction writing. Tell me about the degree of agreement between
> philosophical theories and experiment!
>
> I would prefer to quote Richard Feynman who received the 1965 Nobel Prize
> in Physics for his work on QED:
>
> "The theoretical broadening which comes from having many humanities
> subjects on the campus is offset by the general dopiness of the people who
> study these things."
>
> and
>
> “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the
> easiest person to fool.”.
>
> Cheers
>
> -- Ian
>
--
Dr Tim Gruene
Institut fuer anorganische Chemie
Tammannstr. 4
D-37077 Goettingen
GPG Key ID = A46BEE1A
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