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C. David Barry and Edgar Meyer Collection of Molecular Science 16mm Films
Notifications
Held at: Science History Institute Archives [Contact Us]315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Science History Institute Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
C. David Barry joined Cy Levinthal's molecular biology lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1966 as a post-doc with a PhD in Physics from Manchester University. At the MIT lab, he created interactive 3D protein structures and visualization programs using MIT's new computer graphics system, Project MAC. He worked at the MIT lab for two years before it closed when Levinthal left for Columbia University. Barry was then involved in developing molecular graphics facilities at Washington and Oxford Universities. He later worked for Bolt, Beranek, and Newman (a computer research company that would later become Raytheon BBN), before he moved to AstraZeneca to work in biomedical imaging.
After obtaining a PhD in Chemistry in 1960 from the University of Texas, Edgar Meyer began working with computer generated molecular structures as a post-doc in Cy Levinthal's molecular biology laboratory at MIT in the mid-1960s. In 1967, Meyer accepted a job as a professor at Texas A&M University (TAMU) where he established the Biographics Laboratory. During the summers in the late 60s and early 70s, he created the programs DISPLAY and SEARCH for Brookhaven National Laboratory and worked on the ambitious networking project CRYSNET, which linked datasets at Brookhaven, TAMU, and Fox Chase Cancer Center. This work laid the foundation for the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, graduate students at Meyer's lab continued to make advances in molecular imaging and software, creating models that often pushed the limits of what computer memory at the time could support. Meyer retired from TAMU in 2003 and passed away in 2015.
This collection contains 38 16mm films of computer generated imaging of molecular structures created or used by C. David Barry and Edgar Meyer. Film titles are taken directly from the films when possible, but if no title card exists the title is taken from an inventory created by the donor. They are divided into two series:
- C. David Barry Films
- Edgar Meyer Films
Selected films from this collection have been digitized and are available to view online in our Digital Collections: https://digital.sciencehistory.org/collections/np0dths
The C. David Barry and Edgar Meyer Collection of Molecular Science 16mm Films were donated to the Science History Institute in 2003 by C. David Barry.
The C. David Barry and Edgar Meyer Collection of Molecular Science 16mm Films was processed by Sarah Newhouse in 2022-2023.
According to an inventory from the time of donation, this collection should include a 16mm reel refered to in the inventory as "LDH some version?" and a "3-D diagram with glasses" both of which could not be located at the time of processing. It is possible, however that the "3-D diagram" refers to the Viewmaster in this collection.
Subject
- Publisher
- Science History Institute Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid created by Sarah Newhouse.
- Finding Aid Date
- 2023
- Access Restrictions
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This collection of fragile 16mm films cannot be viewed unless the films are digitized first. Please inquire about digitizing and/or viewing specific films by emailing reproductions@sciencehistory.org
- Use Restrictions
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Science History Institute does not hold the copyright to these materials and cannot grant or deny usage permission. Copyright is held by the films' original creators. The researcher assumes full responsibility for all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
Collection Inventory
This series contains films of computer-generated molecular models created or used by C. David Barry during his time at MIT, Washington University, and Oxford University. Films are listed in alphabetical order by title.
This series contains films of computer generated molecular models created or used by Edgar Meyer during his time at MIT and Texas A&M University, as well as personal films of his family. Films are listed in alphabetical order by title.