Fifty years of aperiodic crystals

Abstract

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.