sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu (Scott Sutherland) (05/08/90)
Here is something that I think may be of interest to those Amiga users who have mentioned the lack of scientific programs for the Amiga, as well as those who think that the Amiga can hold its own in the scientific community. I read an article in sci.chem about a magazine called Tetrahedron Computer Methodology, a chemistry journal which publishes programs in the field of chemistry. I sent the article which is quoted at the beginning of the following correspondence to the author of the posted article (W. Todd Wipke). The following is the response I received. In essence, I noted the lack of NON-IBM material in the issues I saw. The response notes that Amiga oriented programs (and Amiga format disks) could become available if enough were submitted. So if you have a good or interesting scientific package for the Amy, here is a CHANCE to get it published and out to the chemistry community. From: SECS::WIPKE "W. Todd Wipke" 5-MAY-1990 11:36:02.32 To: MX%"sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu" CC: WIPKE Subj: Re: Collection of Graphics Algorithms > > I am a graduate chemistry student and I have seen an issue > of this magazine. I was personally upset that the disks were IBM > format only. No mention was given to Mac or Amiga (my computer) > format disks being available. This is bad judgement on the part > of the journal, IMHO. Even though IBM's and clones are prevalent > in academic and industrial science labs, they are far from the > best platform for scientific visualization, especially ray tracing > (mentioned above), where many colors are required to reproduce > realistic images (the Amiga has 8-10 ray tracing packages available > for it). And graphic manipulation on IBM's (and even Mac's) takes > serious cpu time (the Amiga uses custom graphics chips to do most of > the graphics work). So, please do not just be another platform for > the proliferation of IBM PC's in science. Give the other platforms > a chance as well, especially those which are better suited to heavily > graphic oriented work. > > Scott Sutherland > sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu > Thank you for your opinion. If your university had subscribed to Tetrahedron Computer Methodology, then in the second issue you would have noticed that beginning with vol 2, issue 1 (the fourth issue), Mac disks were included also and that issue carried a very nice chemical drawing package. Although TCM publishes with MAC disks too, there are few papers submitted with Mac applications in chemistry. There have been papers submitted for vax, sun PHIGS, some for the Mac, and lots for the IBM. Nobody has submitted any paper that used the Amiga that I can recall. Thus if we had published Amiga disks, they would be empty except for the ascii versions of the papers. One of my graduate students has an amiga and is distressed to find there are no chemistry programs that he can find, so he is considering putting in an IBM PC coprocessor to be able to run IBM PC programs! The ray tracing algorithm that is being published in TCM is for the SGI. Thus, you can see that the fact that TCM is published with IBM and Mac disks does not restrict what programs can be published. Most people can figure out how to transfer programs from one machine to another, we tried to select the most common disk formats for publishing. You can receive the table of contents by sending to fileserv@TCM.ucsc.edu a one-line message which says LIST INDEX or in the case of the contents of TCM, LIST CONTENTS. That will show you the various packages available and to get the package send a message SENDME CONTENTS.V2N1TCM for example to get volume 2 number 1 contents. Similarly you can get the instructions for authors by LIST INSTR to see what instructions are available and then request the packages you are interested in. Can the Amiga read IBM disks? Do you know how to transfer files from an IBM to an Amiga? If there is chemical software for the Amiga maybe you would like to write a review article listing it all and describing it critically, and where possible we could include it on disk. What are the sources of information about Amiga activities. Perhaps you would like to post some information to TCM-ONLINE@TCM.ucsc.edu to let others know. I am neutral regarding hardware--I publish good science and encourage authors of good programs to publish them. I encourage you to spread the word that Amiga contributions are welcome and to get people to submit papers where the Amiga is the machine used. Further, realize that often source code is published, so you can transfer the programs for an IBM to the amiga yourself. TCM is the first scientific journal in any discipline to be published with disks--it is trying to provide you the computer chemist with better scientific papers in the field of computer chemistry. We would appreciate your help, papers, and subscription. Best regards, ======================================================================= W. Todd Wipke wipke@secs.ucsc.edu Molecular Engineering Laboratory wipke@ucscd.ucsc.edu Thimann Laboratories wipke@ucscd.bitnet University of California BBS 408 429-8019 Santa Cruz, CA 95064 FAX 408 459-4716 ============= TCM-Online@TCM.UCSC.EDU SUBSCRIBE ===================