Open AccessFifty years of aperiodic crystals
Author(s) -
Janssen T.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
acta crystallographica section a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1600-5724
pISSN - 0108-7673
DOI - 10.1107/s0108767312033715
Subject(s) - aperiodic graph , quasicrystal , point (geometry) , field (mathematics) , history of chemistry , history , theoretical physics , epistemology , physics , philosophy , crystallography , chemistry , mathematics , history of science , combinatorics , geometry , pure mathematics
Historians often have debates about the beginning and end of a certain era. The same discussion can be had about the history of aperiodic crystals. There are reasons to claim that in 2012 one may celebrate the 50th anniversary of this field. A short description is given of the development of this branch of crystallography. It is argued that the most important point in its history is the discovery of quasicrystals, which has been recognized by awarding the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2011 to Dan Shechtman.