Princeton University — pEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 08540

April 8, 1972
Professor Joshua Lederberg
Department of Genetics
Stanford University
Stanford, California 94305

Dear Professor Lederberg:

Dr. Ernest Hyde of ICI in England and I are planning for May 1973
a NATO Advanced Study Institute Programme concerning "Computer Representa-
tion and Manipulation of Chemicai Information” to be neld tentatively in
Holland. As you probably know, an Advanced Study Institute is primarily a
high level teaching activity at which a carefully defined subject is pre-
sented in a systematic and coherently structured program. The subject is
treated in considerable depth by lecturers imminent in their field and is
presented to other scientists who will already have specialized in the field
or possess an advanced general background. There will probably be fifteen
lecturers and about fifty-five other participants. The conference will last
about two weeks and it is particularly desirable that lecturers should be
prepared to stay for the duration of the Institute to insure good and stimu-
lating interaction in the group.

The course will deal with a broad range of problems and methodologies
encountered in computer representation and manipulation of various types of
chemical information. Each lecturer has expertise in one or more unique
areas and will present, in the context of these areas, his methodologies and
most important the reasoning behind his choice of representation and the
features of his manipulative methods.

We plan on-line demonstrations of chemical manipulative and retrieval
programs using both local and remote computers. The fifteen lecturers will
provide good coverage of the many types of chemical representations and
manipulations. This diversity will provide a unique opportunity for the
participants to learn the assets and limitations of each methodology and to
see how developments in one area can be helpful to another quite different
area. Participants will also obtain a representative view of what systems
are actually operational today and what problems remain today unsolved. The
joint sponsorship by the Chemical Notation Association of the United Kingdom
which has a fine reputation for organizing excellent seminars in the area of
chemical representation and manipulation by computer should further assure
a successful Study Institute Programme.

Because of the prominence of the work done by you and your research
group in the area of Mass Spectra Analysis and Chemical Representation, I,
as director, would like to invite you to participate in this Advanced Study
Institute as an invited lecturer to present the techniques, methodologies,
and problems relating to the Dendral Project and mass spectral analysis.
Since the conference is only in its planning stages now, I only ask for

an expression of interest at this time. The Advanced Study Insitute would
pay all travel expenses, room and board in a beautiful castle in Holland,
and at least one organized excursion. We also plan to furnish telephone
communications to remote computers as well as certain limited local comput-
ing facilities. A tentative list of lecturers and their subjects is given
below:

W. T. Wipke U.S.A. (Chemical synthesis, interactive graphics)

E. Hyde England (The Crossbow System)

R. Feldman U.S.A. (Substructure search, display, storage/retrieval)
S. Heller U.S.A. (NMR and MS analvsis/retrieval systems)

M. Lynch England (Reaction documentation, indexing)

Schenk Switzerland (Substructure Searching)

P. Jurs U.S.A. (Learning machines in spectral identification)
J. Valls France (Reaction documentation)

J. DuBois France (The DARC System)

W. Knord England (X-ray file systems)

E. Meyer Germany (Structure Search)

R. Ellis U.S.A. (Macromolecular modeling)

Lederberg U.S.A. (Dendral Mass Spec analysis)

Levinthal U.S.A. (Macromolecular modeling)

Vieduts U.S.S.R. (Chemical Information System)

F. Tate U.S.A. (Chemical Abstracts Service)

I do hope that you can participate in this Study Institute for I feel
it will be a unique opportunity to discuss this interdisciplinary problem
and your contribution would be of great value.

Very truly yours,

GrFodd lgehe

W. Todd Wipke
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Director, NATO Advanced Study Institute

WIW:dce