You probably read that the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Dan Shechtman for his discovery of quasicrystals. But did you ever hear about quasicrystals before, and do you really know now what quasicrystals are? You would not be the only one; even 30 years after their discovery in 1982, not every physicist is familiar with this strangely ordered state of matter. The term “quasiperiodicity” does not mean “a more or less periodic state,” it is a mathematically well-defined expression for a particular ordered state—quasicrystals can be as perfect as silicon, for instance. Well, if you want to know more, the updated edition of Christian Janot's book Quasicrystals: A Primer can give you easy access to this exciting field.
Even if you do not know much about crystallography, you will be guided through the basics of order in periodic as well quasiperiodic crystals in direct and reciprocal space....
