Abstract
On October 9, Dr. Max von Laue, professor of theoretical physics in the University of Berlin, will be sixty years old, and we take the opportunity to congratulate him on his brilliant scientific work, and especially on his conception of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals, which has led to the development of more than one new and important branch of science. In 1912, Dr. von Laue made the fundamental suggestion that crystals, which had long been believed to contain a lattice structure regularly repeated in space, might behave towards X-rays as a diffraction grating behaves towards light. He worked out in some detail the diffraction effects to be expected from such a three-dimensional grating, and his suggestion led directly to the experimental discovery of the diffraction by his collaborators Friedrich and Knipping. The diffraction pattern obtained when a beam of X-rays of mixed wave-length falls on a crystal is now universally known by his name. The immediate effect of the discovery was to settle the contemporary discussion about the nature of X-rays. The work was immediately taken up by scientific men in all countries, including, of course, the Braggs in England, and, in the years that followed, the diffraction of X-rays has developed into our most powerful method for studying the structure of aggregated matter. Its significance for the biologist is, perhaps, only beginning now. In these days of international antagonism, it is well to note that the branch of science initiated by von Laue has developed by the co-operative effort of men of all nations. Dr. von Lauo has numerous friends in Great Britain; all of them hope that he has yet many years of fruitful work before him.
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Prof. M. von Laue. Nature 144, 625 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144625a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144625a0