Crystals of large molecules exhibit diverse structures. In other words, the geometric arrangements of the molecules relative to one another are complex. Given a specific molecule, theoretically predicting its crystal structure is a challenge and is the basis of a competition.
One of the reasons the structures are rich and the theoretical problem is so challenging is that there are typically many …
It is easy to take for granted many scientific ideas and results that seem commonplace and reasonable to us today. However, when some ideas were first proposed or discoveries made they were greeted with scepticism, and even ridicule. In 1913 the Braggs determined the crystal structure of sodium chloride. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915. However, as late as 1927, the following…
UNESCO has declared 2014 the International Year of Crystallography . This is to mark 100 years since Max von Laue got the Nobel Prize for discovering diffraction of x-rays by crystals. The International Union of Crystallography has produced some nice educational resources for the occasion. But, I actually prefer this video from the Royal Institution for the Bragg centenary last year. Due to the i…
