IYCr 2014 Crystallography University of Sydney

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Crystallography in everyday life
http://www.iycr2014.org/participate/photo-competition

Crystallography is the science that deals with the structure of matter. It relies on crystals, a type of solid material made of atoms that are organised into a repeating three-dimensional pattern. This symmetry inherent in the science of crystallography is mirrored in many artistic endeavours, from ceramics to architecture to calligraphy.

By revealing the inner secrets of biological, chemical and other materials, crystallography has led to incredible developments since it was first applied about 100 years ago. The smartphones we use to communicate, the medicines developed to treat disease, the recipes devised to make the best-tasting chocolate, even the analysis of Martian soil samples by the Curiosity Rover are dependent on crystallography.

This exhibition, part of the worldwide festivities for the UNESCO 2014 International Year of Crystallography, highlights 15 stunning images selected from over 130 entries worldwide that celebrate the wonder of crystallography, symmetry and crystals as symbolized in the places, objects and experiences of everyday life.

For more information on crystallography and the International Year of Crystallography,
see www.iycr.org
For more information about the Academy’s National Committee of Crystallography,
visit www.science.org.au/commitee/crystallography
For a limited time only.

Piazza Maggiore, Bologna, Italy
10,000 plates arranged on the ground in Piazza Maggiore, Bologna, for a fundraiser event for World Food Day. The plates evoke the symmetrical reciprocal lattice of a crystal diffraction pattern.
Photographer: Natasha F. Sciortino (Australia)
Rights: © / Natasha F. Sciortino /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

A crystallographic symmetry lattice in islamic art
This image of a highly symmetric pattern was taken in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey.
Photographer: Mélanie Meyer (France)
Rights: © / Mélanie Meyer /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Plants in crystallographic symmetry C4v
This unique plant, part of the Araceae family, has a spadix that produces fruits with apparent C4v crystallographic symmetry.
Photographer: Ren Wiscons (United States)
Rights: © / Ren Wiscons /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

My Army!
Image showing the beautiful symmetric reflection of chess pawns, bishops, knight, queen and king that have been placed on white marble.
Photographer: Anshul Sukhwal (India)
Rights: © / Anshul Sukhwal /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Bakery meets crystallography
Traditional French biscuits baked for Christmas, cooling down before being eaten! The highly ordered pattern is the consequence of a crystallographer following a baking protocol.
Photographer: Mélanie Meyer (France)
Rights: © / Mélanie Meyer /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

IceRowan
Ice crystals growing from rowan berries hit by the evening sun in Norway.
Photographer: Jens Preben Morth (Norway)
Rights: © / Jens Preben Morth /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Synergy in the Sun
Synergy is a sculpture by Julian Voss-Andreae that illustrates the molecular structure of the most abundant human protein, collagen. It’s structure consists of three protein spirals winding around each other (model shown below). The collagen crystal structure was determined by Dr Helen Berman at Rutgers University, where this statue stands. Photographer: Christine Zardecki (United States)
Rights: © / Christine Zardecki /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Graphite-Point-Defect
Crystals sometimes have imperfections, one of these is called a point defect. Here, this type of defect is represented by an imperfect set of symmetrical ‘graphite’ pencils. Can you spot the imperfection? Modeled below is the hexagonal close-packed layer structure of graphite.
Photographer: Paul Tambuyser (Netherlands)
Rights: © / Paul Tambuyser/Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Cathedral of Santa Maria Annunziata, Otranto, Italy
A beautiful ornate cathedral ceiling in Otranto, Italy, decorated with a highly symmetric pattern according to a special crystallographic symmetry (P4m planar group).
Photographer: Natasha F. Sciortino (Australia)
Rights: © / Natasha F. Sciortino /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Amorphous sunflowers
An endless field of sunflowers in Tuscany, Italy, illustrates the lack of long-range order present in amorphous solids.
Photographer: Natasha F. Sciortino (Australia)
Rights: © / Natasha F. Sciortino /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Single Crystal
Colloquially known as the ‘Diamond Building’, 11 Diagonal Street Johannesburg was designed by the architect Helmut Jahn to resemble a multi-faceted diamond crystal. The exterior glass ‘facets’ are placed at varying angles to reflect different views of the city.
Photographer: Werner Barnard (South Africa)
Rights: © / Werner Barnard /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Romanesco broccoli
Highly mosaic romanesco broccoli with signs of radiation damage.
Photographer: Graziano Lolli (Italy)
Rights: © / Graziano Lolli /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Twinned vineyards
Regular partitioning of Malvasia vineyards in the hills around Parma in Italy.
Photographer: Alessia Bacchi (France)
Rights: © / Alessia Bacchi /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Baklawa (Baklava) - traditional Tunisian cake
Symmetry is evident in the arrangement of these baklava cakes.
Photographer: Mohamad Alem Bouhassine (Tunisia)
Rights: © / Mohamad Alem Bouhassine /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Handedness
Handedness and rotational symmetry are common properties of crystal symmetry. Here, an abstraction of both properties represented in an image taken at the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Hong Kong.
Photographer: Christine Zardecki (United States)
Rights: © / Christine Zardecki /Used with International Union of Crystallography permission

Detected Images

The fundamental crystallographic experiment requires only a few key components: the crystalline specimen, a source of radiation to shine on it, and a detector device to record the result. The detector measures the intensity pattern of scattered radiation given off by the sample, and is the crystallographer’s only interface with the information contained in the experiment.

Every detector is different – its size, shape, dimensionality, and positional relationship to the specimen must all influence the interpretation of any data it records.


Reconstructed Images

Rarely does a single measurement contain enough information to describe a crystal’s structure. Transformation of a set of related measurements into a descriptive whole is a vital step in the crystallographic process, and one that now relies almost entirely on the use of advanced computer software.

The physical configuration of the experiment and the type of information desired both dictate the design of the software used. Most programs are instrument-specific and are written by either the manufacturer or the crystallographers themselves.

Some aluminosolicates with large and complex structures that require shorthand representation.

Some more complex materials, with groups of atoms represented by polyhedra (with an atom in the centre and other atoms at the vertices).

Three crystalline materials containing different types of atoms as balls of different sizes.

The three different forms of carbon, showing atoms as balls.