Israeli Scientist Wins Nobel Prize

December 1, 2011

The Nobel Committee for Chemistry at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Shechtman, a professor at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, had discovered quasicrystals that appeared to be like “fascinating mosaics of the Arabic world reproduced at the level of atoms” and which never repeated themselves.

In 1982, Shechtman discovered a startling anomaly in the atom patterns of a quasicrystal, a metallic alloy. Until this discovery, scientists believed that atom patterns inside quasicrystals had to repeat themselves symmetrically. The atoms that Shechtman saw through his electron microscope, however, were packed in a pattern that could not be repeated.

Shechtman's findings were considered extremely controversial at the time. “The configuration found in quasicrystals was considered impossible, and Daniel Shechtman had to fight a fierce battle against established science,” Nobel Committee for Chemistry announced. His discovery “fundamentally altered the way chemists look at solid matter.”

Since then, hundreds of materials have been found to exist with the structure Shechtman discovered, and scientists have come to a better understanding of what quasicrystals look like at the atomic level by studying medieval Islamic mosaics in Alhambra Palace in Spain and the Darb-i Imam Shrine in Iran. The mosaics have regular patterns and follow mathematical rules, but they never repeat themselves.

Quasicrystals are thought to have potential applications in protective alloys and coatings, and one Swedish company has found them in a type of steel, where the crystals reinforce the material like armor. Scientists are today experimenting with using the crystals in different products, from diesel engines to frying pans.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Shechtman to say: “I would like to congratulate you on behalf of the citizens of Israel for your award, which expresses the intellect of our people. Every Israeli is happy today and every Jew in the world is proud.”

Source: Excerpts of an article by Nicky Blackburn, www.israel21c.or

Photo Credit: www.israel21c.org