Mineralogy and Geology: the role of Crystallography since the discovery of X-Ray diffraction in 1912.

Resum

Minerals are geological resources of major economic importance. Most of them are crystalline which explains the important role played by crystallography in their study. Minerals may occur either massive or forming characteristic geometric forms known as crystals. In 1912, Max von Laue discovered the diffraction of X-rays by crystals and almost immediately diffraction methods were applied to the structural characterization of minerals. One early success of X-ray crystallography was the structural classification of silicate minerals. However, application of X-ray diffraction was not limited to minerals. It was soon used for the structural characterization of molecular crystals as well and, later on, even of proteins. Nowadays, crystallography is commonly employed in many branches of experimental sciences such as physics, chemistry, biochemistry, and geology among others.