IOT: Crystallography

Back in November In Our Time did an episode on crystallography. I just listened to it this week, and it is lovely. I haven't done any work in that field since I started grad school, but I still love it. Despite the huge impact crystallography has had on other sciences, it's a field most people haven't heard of, so it was pretty nice to have it highlighted on the show.

I'm proud to have been part of that excellent community they mentioned, too. The biggest conference I've attended was the IUCr Congress in Osaka, Japan. It was fantastic, and not just because I got to go to Japan. Well organized, great science, good atmosphere and a fairly welcoming attitude among participants. I've been to smaller conferences that were much less inviting.