Dan Shechtman

6 posts

Why do quasicrystals exist?

8 min read
Scicomm crystallography Dan Shechtman density functional theory DFT-FE enthalpy entropy finite element analysis fivefold symmetry graphics processing unit Linus Carl Pauling nucleation phase diagram quasicrystals scandium-zinc surface energy translational symmetry unit cell ytterbium-cadmium

Featured image: An example of zellij tilework in the Al Attarine Madrasa in Fes, Morocco (2012), with complex geometric patterns on the lower walls and a band of calligraphy above. Caption and credit:…

The calculus of creative discipline

5 min read
Culture Op-eds classical mechanics creative discipline critical points Dan Shechtman differential calculus EPR paradox fantasy fiction Imre Lakatos JK Rowling Karl Popper literary criticism M John Harrison Malazan Book of the Fallen mathematical analysis nerdism Niels Bohr Paul Feyerabend Philosophy of Science quasicrystals replication crisis smooth functions Steven Erikson Thomas Kuhn Viriconium world-building

Every moment of a science fiction story must represent the triumph of writing over world-building. World-building is dull. World-building literalises the urge to invent. World-building gives an unnece…

A case of Kuhn, quasicrystals & communication - Part II

7 min read
Uncategorized crystallography Dan Shechtman Dov Levine Istvan Hargittai Malcolm Browne Paul Steinhardt Penrose tiling quasicrystals science journalism Structure of Scientific Revolutions three-dimensional geometry

Did science journalists find QCs anomalous? Did they report the crisis period as it happened or as an isolated incident? Whether they did or did not will be indicative of Kuhn’s influence on science j…