XVII Congress Report

This issue of the IUCr Newsletter contains highlights of some of the reports on scientific sessions at the XVII Congress and General Assembly of the IUCr held in Seattle Aug. 9-17. The full reports on 13 keynote addresses and 62 microsymposia written by the session chairs have been placed on the meeting website: http://www.hwi.buffalo.edu/aca/ [and archived on the IUCr web site]. Additional reports are being added as they are received. Because of the page limits, not all of the reports can be printed in the Newsletter and those that are have to be edited.

This issue contains reports of keynote addresses and microsymposia related to instrumentation and experimental techniques, methods of structural determination, computers and modeling, and macromolecular crystallography. Other congress topics will be covered in the next two issues of the newsletter.

The record congress attendance of 2713 crystallographers from 51 countries included 252 accompanying members and 150 exhibitors. A detailed statistical report concerning the geographical distribution of abstract submissions and meeting attendance will appear in a future issue. A summary report on the opinions concerning the formats and content of future IUCr congresses expressed by 485 congress participants who completed questionnaires distributed on the morning of the last full day of the congress will also appear in a future issue.

Industrial Support

A record number of exhibits contributed to the scientific and financial success of the Seattle meeting. Many of the same exhibitors advertise regularly in this newsletter. It is only through the generosity of the International Union of Crystallography and with the support of the advertisers that the newsletter can be produced and sent to you at no cost. If each reader were to send a letter, FAX, or e-mail message to just one advertizer in the next month expressing their appreciation to them for supporting crystallography and the newsletter it could make a significant difference to the long term survival of the newsletter.

IUCr Activities

The IUCr Newsletter is an ideal vehicle for alerting the International Community to the activities of the Commissions of the IUCr and its regional affiliates. A report from the Commission on Charge, Spin and Momentum Density appears on page 6 and a report from the Asian Crystallographic Association, a regional affiliate of the IUCr, appears on page 20.

Meeting Reports

Page limits have created a backlog of scientific meeting reports. Some national and regional newsletters (BCA News, ACA News) do such an excellent job of providing in depth coverage of local meetings that only highlights can be incorporated into the IUCr Newsletter. An effort is made to include meeting reports that sample the entire range of crystallographic interests and geographical areas.

Obituaries

We are saddened by the news of the deaths of many prominent crystallographers including Boris Konstantinovish Vainshtein (Russia), Harry Carlisle (UK), Sir Gordon Cox (UK), Mel Mueller (USA), David Schomaker (USA), and Stan Simonsen (USA). Brief accounts of their lives will appear in future issues.