Nobel for impossible discovery
Source: Agencies |
October 6, 2011, Thursday
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Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman won the 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry yesterday for his discovery of quasicrystals, a mosaic-like chemical structure researchers previously thought was impossible.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Shechtman's discovery in 1982 fundamentally changed the way chemists look at solid matter. It initially faced strong objections from the scientific community, and even got him kicked out of his research group.
Since then, quasicrystals have been produced in laboratories and a Swedish company found them in one of the most durable kinds of steel, which is now used in products such as razor blades and thin needles made specifically for eye surgery, the citation said.
Scientists are also experimenting with using quasicrystals in coatings for frying pans, heat insulation in engines, and in light-emitting devices, or LEDs.
"It feels wonderful," Shechtman, a 70-year-old professor at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, said after receiving news of the prize.
In chemical terms, a crystal is a regular and repeating arrangement of atoms within a material. A quasicrystal presents a pattern that scientists thought was impossible. The pattern of atoms within a material influences its physical properties.
Shechtman was studying a mix of aluminum and manganese in his microscope when he found a pattern that never repeated itself and appeared contrary to the laws of nature.
"His battle eventually forced scientists to reconsider their conception of the very nature of matter," the academy said.
Nancy Jackson, president of the American Chemical Society, called Shechtman's discovery "one of these great scientific discoveries that go against the rules."
Only later did some scientists go back to some of their own inexplicable findings and realized they had seen quasicrystals but had not known it, Jackson said.
"People just laughed at me," Shechtman said. For months he tried to persuade his colleagues of his find, but they refused to accept it. Finally he was asked to leave his research group, and moved to another within the institute.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Shechtman's discovery in 1982 fundamentally changed the way chemists look at solid matter. It initially faced strong objections from the scientific community, and even got him kicked out of his research group.
Since then, quasicrystals have been produced in laboratories and a Swedish company found them in one of the most durable kinds of steel, which is now used in products such as razor blades and thin needles made specifically for eye surgery, the citation said.
Scientists are also experimenting with using quasicrystals in coatings for frying pans, heat insulation in engines, and in light-emitting devices, or LEDs.
"It feels wonderful," Shechtman, a 70-year-old professor at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, said after receiving news of the prize.
In chemical terms, a crystal is a regular and repeating arrangement of atoms within a material. A quasicrystal presents a pattern that scientists thought was impossible. The pattern of atoms within a material influences its physical properties.
Shechtman was studying a mix of aluminum and manganese in his microscope when he found a pattern that never repeated itself and appeared contrary to the laws of nature.
"His battle eventually forced scientists to reconsider their conception of the very nature of matter," the academy said.
Nancy Jackson, president of the American Chemical Society, called Shechtman's discovery "one of these great scientific discoveries that go against the rules."
Only later did some scientists go back to some of their own inexplicable findings and realized they had seen quasicrystals but had not known it, Jackson said.
"People just laughed at me," Shechtman said. For months he tried to persuade his colleagues of his find, but they refused to accept it. Finally he was asked to leave his research group, and moved to another within the institute.
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