Researched
X-ray Crystallography
Laue and the Braggs (1912-13) use X-ray diffraction to see how atoms are arranged in crystals.
Open in the interactive tree →In 1912 Max von Laue's team showed that crystals diffract X-rays, proving both the wave nature of X-rays and the regular lattice of atoms. William Henry and William Lawrence Bragg turned this into a method for solving crystal structures (Nobel Prize 1915). Later it revealed the structures of penicillin, DNA, haemoglobin and semiconductors.
Prerequisites
Unlocks
- Quantum Chemistry & Bonding1927Pauling started from crystal structures to derive bond lengths and rules
- Structure of DNA1953Franklin's X-ray diffraction pictures of DNA led to the double helix
- First protein structure1958
- Multilayer EUV Mirrors1981