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crystallography

crystallography

1 7.9
The study of how crystals form and their structure
  • noun
  • /ˌkrɪstəˈlɒɡrəfi/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cristalografía
  • Using crystallography, scientists can determine the three-dimensional structure of proteins.
  • X-ray crystallography
  • Macromolecular crystallography
  • Protein crystallography

Well, DNA people are very familiar with the story of Rosalind Franklin and the the crystallography.

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Examples

  • The answer lies in the development of X-ray crystallography more than a century later in 1912.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Protein crystallography typically requires several steps from sample preparation to structure determination.

    Academic text (2006)
  • So that was crystallography in those days before X-ray.

  • We haven't yet sold all these structures, but thanks to crystallography, we very soon will be able to do so.

  • So for her pioneering work in in crystallography, she won the Nobel Prize.

  • The year 1912 therefore marked the beginning of the science of X-ray crystallography.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Since the birth of x-ray crystallography nearly a century ago, the technique has helped scientists determine ever more complicated structures.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Leonya had met his wife-to-be, Tanya, a student of crystallography.

    Academic text (1991)
  • The first biological studies by x-ray crystallography were on so-called small molecules—metabolites, cofactors, drugs, and so on.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Researchers are only beginning to understand cubane's oxidation states using crystallography and spectroscopy (see J.-Z. Wu et al., ref. 6).

    Academic text (2004)

How Specialized

crystallography
  • Specialized
1 7.9
mineralogy
  • Specialized
2 7.7
geology
  • Specialized
49 3.5
earth science
  • Specialized
3 3.4
science
1.3

Surface Forms

Morphology

crystallography = crystal (semi-transparent) = crystal + graphy

The word clearly contains crystal plus the scientific suffix -graphy, but the specialised sense 'study of' is not fully predictable for an average B1 learner.

Etymology

The word crystallography comes from crystal, a word people used for 'ice' or a clear stone, and the ending -graphy, which means 'to write' or 'to draw', like in photography. So, crystallography is like 'writing' or 'drawing' about crystals — the scientific study of their shape and how they form.