Volume 36, Issue 6

The International Year of Crystallography (IYCr) is a year-round celebration of the science of crystallography, its enthralling history, and its multifarious contributions to society. Sponsored by UNESCO and the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), a sister organization of IUPAC, the year 2014 marks, among other milestones, the centennial of the Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to the German physicist Max von Laue (1879-1960) for his seminal discovery of the diffraction of X‑rays by crystals. According to the IUCr, close to 50 scientists have now been awarded Nobel Prizes for scientific achievements directly related to, or relying heavily on the use of, crystallographic methods! Hence, it is not surprising that X‑ray crystallography has experienced an explosive growth since its inception and is now considered to be the most powerful technique for the determination of the structure of matter. As such, it is a key driving force in the development of modern chemistry, physics, molecular biology, nanotechnology, medicine, materials science, and many other fields of science and technology.