The computation of Fourier syntheses with a digital electronic calculating machine.

The first paper published in a scientific journal on the application of an electronic computer to computational biology. At the second English computer conference held in Manchester from July 9-12, 1951 computer scientist John Makepiece Bennett and biochemist and crystallographer John Kendrew described their use of the Cambridge EDSAC for the computation of Fourier syntheses in the calculation of structure factors of the protein molecule myoglobin. Their paper in Acta Crystallographica was an expansion of a briefer summary published in the Manchester University Computer Conference Proceedings (1951). It represents a more thorough presentation intended for x-ray crystallographers, and must have been submitted almost immediately after the Manchester Conference, since it was received by Acta Crystallographica on July 28, 1951.