Dan Shechtman Proved Quasicrystals Existed

Dan Shechtman Proved Quasicrystals Existed

In 1982, Israeli scientist Dan Shechtman discovered quasicrystals while studying an aluminum-manganese alloy under an electron microscope. His findings challenged the accepted rules of crystallography, and critics dismissed the idea, with American chemist Linus Pauling reportedly saying, "There is no such thing as quasicrystals, only quasi-scientists." Shechtman faced years of ridicule, but he kept defending the evidence. In 2011, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of quasicrystals.

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