UNESCO has declared 2014 to be the International Year of Crystallography, in celebration of the hundred years of research and knowledge advanced by X-ray crystallography, since its initial discovery by a father-son team. In 1913, William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg showed it was possible to measure the angle and intensity of X-rays bouncing off of an object or substance to determine the position of its constituent atoms. Throughout the early 20th century, this technique was used to visualize the structure of molecules essential to life. One particularly notable pioneer in the field of crystallography was 1964 Nobel Prize recipient Dorothy Hodgkin, who established the structure of insulin and Vitamin B-12 as well as other complicated biomolecules. Dozens of other Nobel Prize-winning discoveries have resulted from crystallography. It has truly revolutionized the way we see, and interact with, the world.





Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character, Vol. 89, No. 610 (Sep. 22, 1913), pp. 248-277 
Royal Society
The British Medical Journal, Vol. 4, No. 5785 (Nov. 20, 1971), pp. 447-451
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Vol. 242, No. 1229 (Oct. 29, 1957), pp. 228-263
Royal Society