My visual imagination is pretty much constantly on when I read chemistry papers. There’s a stereotype that you read a synthesis or catalysis paper by (1) carefully looking at the figures, (2) reading the experimental procedures, and then maybe (3) reading the text if you need clarification on a point or two. Lots of areas of chemistry (organic, biological, materials science) benefit greatly from visualization because of the fundamental idea that structure determines function. If you can’t visualize a catalyst in 3D, it becomes much more difficult to explain things like stereoselectivity or reaction mechanism.
My visual imagination is pretty much constantly on when I read chemistry papers. There’s a stereotype that you read a synthesis or catalysis paper by (1) carefully looking at the figures, (2) reading the experimental procedures, and then maybe (3) reading the text if you need clarification on a point or two. Lots of areas of chemistry (organic, biological, materials science) benefit greatly from visualization because of the fundamental idea that structure determines function. If you can’t visualize a catalyst in 3D, it becomes much more difficult to explain things like stereoselectivity or reaction mechanism.