search site  |  contact us  HOME PRODUCTS DOWNLOADS SALES SUPPORT NEWS Tutorials Teaching Science with CrystalMaker   Guiding Principles     Hands-On Learning     Educational Resources   CrystalMaker began life in the classroom. Founder and managing director, Dr David Palmer, experienced a frustration common to many science students when first faced with dusty laboratory "ball-and-stick" models of crystal and molecular structures. Even the simplest structures appeared almost impenetrably complex, giving rise to the classic "can't see the wood for the trees" problem. Seeing the Wood for the Trees Ten later, whilst preparing an undergraduate lecture course, David thought of a better way of presenting crystal structures. Instead of using traditional, static models, he would provide dynamical models: which could be seamlessly transformed into simpler and easier-to-understand representations. The result was CrystalMaker: a program that could not only replicate the appearance of traditional "ball-and-stick" models, but was also able to instantly switch to simpler, stylized representations, with polyhedral units (akin to "Lego" bricks) replacing complex groups of atoms and bonds. Deconstructing Complexity Crucial to the success of this approach was the ability to easily focus on individual units, whilst hiding the remainder of the structure. Students would first learn to understand the structures of the basic building units, and then focus on how these were joined together to build the more complex extended structure. This led to an understanding of the subtle differences between some structures, as well as an appreciation of the range of length scales: from the atom to the molecular unit, to the crystal lattice, and beyond. Over prolonged use in lectures and hands-on teaching classes, CrystalMaker proved highly effective - and also quite inspirational, with its beautifully-rendered three-dimensional graphics. Further Refinements The ability to rapidly isolate areas of interest, to "home in" on a particular feature, is crucial in developing an effective 3D understanding. CrystalMaker provides an abundance of ways for making this possible. At the simplest level, atomic selection tools allow users to literally carve-out chunks of a structure, hiding the remaining atoms in order to focus on the selection. Other tools allow easy selection of individual molecules within a more complex structure or the ability to show or hide groups of atoms according to their chemical element or symmetry-related (site) positions in a structure. Next The physical properties of crystals, including their intricate shapes, are all controlled by their intricate atomic arrangements CrystalMaker lets you switch seamlessly back and forth between different representations of the same structure Combined atom, bond and translucent polyhedral views can be highly revealing © 2008 CrystalMaker Software Limited. All rights reserved worldwide.