Quasicrystals:  The 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

In October 2011 it was announced that Daniel Shechtman would be awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for the discovery of quasicrystals. This seminar will discuss what Shechtman did in 1981 and why some scientists (notably Linus Pauling) viewed Shechtman's interpretation of his results as wrong. Pre-1981 work by others on aperiodic tilings and aperiodic crystals will be discussed, as will quite recent advances that have led to answers to Pauling's oft-repeated question: But where are the atoms?