In the late 1980s, as I recollected here[1] the equipment needed for real time molecular visualisation as it became known as was still expensive, requiring custom systems such as Evans and Sutherland PS390 workstations. One major breakthrough in making such techniques generally available on less specialised equipment was achieved by Roger Sayle[2], then working at Imperial College around 1990 and using a Silicon Graphics workstation. He greatly optimised up the rendering algorithms by creating a program called RasMol (after his initials), which meant such visualisations could very rapidly also be achieved even on a personal computer. Moving from vector display technology (the PS390) to Raster/bitmap graphics had allowed spacefilling representations of molecules containing 100s if not 1000s of atoms – and in turn enabled the new World-Wide Web to exploit the technique.[3]
References
- H. Rzepa, "Computers 1967-2011: a personal perspective. Part 2. 1985-1989.", 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.59350/g4j62-4xk50
- R. Sayle, "RASMOL: biomolecular graphics for all", Trends in Biochemical Sciences, vol. 20, pp. 374-376, 1995. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0968-0004(00)89080-5
- H.S. Rzepa, B.J. Whitaker, and M.J. Winter, "Chemical applications of the World-Wide-Web system", Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications, pp. 1907, 1994. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C39940001907