Macromolecules are the proteins and nucleic acids upon which life depends. Understanding the action of biological macromolecules (giant molecules) requires detailed knowledge of their structures. Most of the more than ten thousand known structures of protein and nucleic acids were obtained by x-ray crystallography, the standard mechanism for determining protein structure. Essentially, proteins are frozen into rigid crystals, which can be stacked up in a repeating pattern--like supermarket displays. The structure of each individual crystal can be determined by the way x-rays are bent when they pass through the composite crystal. Protein structure is essential when investigating protein interactions and planning drug development.
Crystallography Made Crystal Clear, Second Edition explains how scientists discover the structures of the macromolecules. Scientists do not see these molecules directly. Instead, they build models as a means of interpreting data from x-ray diffraction by crystals, or by irradiation by other forms of energy. Users of these models need to know how they are obtained in order to know what they are seeing when they study a model of a macromolecule. They also need to know how to judge whether conclusions they draw from the molecular models are really supported by the models. This book uses visual and geometric models to help readers understand the mathematics that forms the basis of x-ray crystallography.
The field of protein crystallography is growing every day and has been instrumental in discovering the molecular principles of biology and in discovering new drugs, such as the recent protease inhibitors for AIDS. The field includes the largest percentage of Nobel prizes than any other scientific discipline. Every major university and drug company has a protein crystallography laboratory and this book is an invaluable aid to those wishing to practice protein crystallography
or just learn more about how it is actually done.

Key Features
* Provides clear, understandable descriptions of principles of X-ray crystallography
* Leads reader through unintimidating and thorough explanations of the underlying mathematics
* Provides abundant illustrations, including diagrams, charts, photographs, and color stereo
* images
* Explains how to read crystallography papers in research journals
* Includes brief descriptions of other diffraction methods (neutron, electron, Laue) and the kinds
* of structural information they can provide
* Introduces other methods of macromolecular structure determination (NMR spectroscopy and
* homology modeling), and provides guidance in judging the quality of these models

It is important to note that the book is still far from "crystal clear"! The portion of the book dealing with the physics of x-ray diffraction is very mysterious--definately dig out the old college physics textbook and read about diffraction when you find yourself confused. Also, the mathematics presented in the middle chapters of the book are way beyond the level that biochemists must deal with on a regular basis. An understanding of multi-variable calculus is important for these chapters.

Overall, the book is a must-read for anyone interested in structural biology, with the exception of several chapters regarding the mathematics that can be skimmed over. And the webpage associated with the book is an excellent resource.

9 of 10 found the following review helpful:


The best introduction to the subject  Jun 14, 2004 By Ashutosh Jogalekar "Sciencecat"
This is the best introduction to crystallography I have ever come across. Which is quite an achievement because it's a rather complicated subject to study. In crystallography it's very common to find books which deal with either a totally descriptive approach or a totally mathematical approach. Rhodes' book bridges the gap between the two and gives the reader the right dose of jargon and explanation. He illustrates every point with plenty of figures as well as real life computer models of proteins. Before I came across this book, I was struggling and failing to understand Isomorphous Replacement, MAD, Solvent Flattening, Maps and Models, as well as the iterative refining of models. I think no other book comes even close to this book in explaining all these concepts in a simple format. This, I think is as clear as it can get without becoming oversimplified. A must have for all researchers and students whose work is connected to crystallography in any way; this would include crystallographers themselves, biochemists and molecular biologists and computational chemists.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:


Buy "Biomolecular Crystallography"  Jul 22, 2010 By Tommy Carstensen
Buy "Biomolecular Crystallography" instead. This book tries to condense too much information on too few pages. I didn't understand everything in "Biomolecular Crystallography", but the sections that I did understand, are very well written. It's more expensive, but it's a better book, for those that really want to understand crystallography beyond various tutorials on the internet and "Crystallography Made Crystal Clear".

4 of 5 found the following review helpful:


Clear perhaps, accurate not  Feb 16, 2009 By Dr. Peter Muller
While Crystallography made Crystal Clear by Gale Rhodes is certainly easy to read, it oversimplifies things and introduces a few inaccuracies. It falls short to make the student really understand crystallography, which, in my opinion, is not a good thing for a textbook. On the other hand, I have made the experience that, unfortunately, many students are happy with only a superficial knowledge of the basic theory (I have been teaching crystallography for about a decade now) and this book helps with this attitude.

My advice: if you just want to pass the class and don't care about the subject, go with this book. If, however, you really want to understand what crystallography is about, you need to read either the great beginner's book by Werner Massa: Crystal Structure Determination or the more protein crystallography oriented but equally great beginners book by Jenny Glusker and Kenneth Trueblood: Crystal Structure Analysis -- A Primer. Once you have digested the Massa or the Glusker/Trueblood, you can work your way through the book edited by Carmelo Giacovazzo: Fundamentals of Crystallography.

After reading and understanding the Massa or Glusker/Trueblood and the Giacovazzo, you'll be ready to survive a discussion with any crystallographer any time. (What is more: you will enjoy the discussion!) The book by Gale Rhodes, however, will only get you over the exam and you'll miss out on the great fun crystallography can be.

EDIT on 12/12/2010:
A new edition of the Glusker Trueblood has come out: Crystal Structure Analysis: A Primer. The classic has been brought up-to-date and there really is no excuse any more for reading any other introductory textbook than the Glusker/Trueblood. Especially not the book by Gale Rhodes.

6 of 8 found the following review helpful:


"The" clearest one out there....  Jun 04, 2003 By JP Cartailler
When it comes to this field of research, you get two types of references: (1) the 2-5 page quick intro that leaves you with the most basic overview of crystallography and (2) the 'hard core' books that go into such detail as to leave you breathless. This book is, in my opinion, the best transition book.

For non-crystallographers, this book will teach enough about crystallography to allow you to read crystal structure articles and understand what is meant by all of the used statistics and such.

For apprentice crystallographers, this is a wonderful intro into the field. Master the book, then move on to harder books to master it.

Highly recommended. I still go back to it, when I teach people, to help me explain in the way that Gale Rhodes does!

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