Crystallography, according to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy is the “description of the forms that bodies take when crystallizing”. However, it is much more than that. It is a fundamental science in chemistry, physics, biology, mineralogy, and so on. In fact, due to its importance, UNESCO has just named 2014 as the International Year of Crystallography .
Crystallography is not just the spectacular crystal-filled caves, the precious and sparkling geodes that decorate our living room, or the expensive diamonds set in rings and necklaces. Crystallography surrounds us on a daily basis. As Unesco points out, “ from the moment we get up, and with each step we take, there are crystals around us . We find crystals as components of toothpaste, as grains of sugar or forming the structure of an eggshell, thus providing its mechanical properties. Crystals are also on the liquid crystal screens of alarm clocks, on our mobile phones and on our computer screens. Crystals are also found in catalytic converters in cars, in snow outside or in frozen foods in our fridge. Crystals are literally everywhere in our daily lives. ” And reason is not lacking.
But it is also that they are essential for the development of new technologies such as lasers or touch devices and pharmacological improvement. In fact, each drug must be crystallized to ensure its purity, verify its functionality and improve its efficiency . “Thanks to crystallography there are new methods that allow better visualization of the spatial arrangement of atoms and molecules and use this knowledge to understand how drugs work and how to improve them,” they point out from the official Unesco site.
As the Director General of Unesco, Irina Bokova, explained in the presentation of the International Year of Crystallography, ” scientific innovation needs crystallography “, highlighting that “understanding the basic forms of matter” allows improvement in multiple aspects scientists and our lives. In fact, according to the organization itself, “our commitment for 2014 is to explain to the world the enormous contribution that crystallography makes to society .”
In Spain, most of the crystallographers who carry out their research are associated with the so-called Specialized Group on Crystallography and Crystal Growth (GE3C), which is a group associated with the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry. Similarly, European crystallographers are associated in the so-called European Crystallographic Association (ECA).
