RSC President comments on Daniel Shechtman's Nobel Prize for chemistry

Professor David Phillips, President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, commented on the 2011 Nobel Prize for chemistry winner Daniel Shechtman and his discovery:

"Quasicrystals are a fascinating aspect of chemical and material science - crystals that break all the rules of being a crystal at all!

"You can normally explain in simple terms where in a crystal each atom sits - they are very symmetrical. With quasicrystals, that symmetry is broken: there are regular patterns in the structure, but never repeating.

"They're quite beautiful, and have potential applications in protective alloys and coatings. The award of the Nobel Prize to Daniel Shechtman is a celebration of fundamental research."