Indian world of crystallography

XXIX National Seminar on Crystallography. (Photo courtesy of V Pattabhi)

The 270 papers presented at the XXIX National Seminar on Crystallography at the Dept of Crystallography and Biophysics, U. of Madras, Guindy Campus in Dec. 1998 covered crystallographic applications to biomedicine and material science, biocrystallography, organic, and inorganic structures, physical properties, crystal growth and characterization. K. Lal, treasurer of the Asian Crystallographic Association opened the meeting. A highlight of the meeting was a talk C.N.R. Rao, F.R.S. on "Crystallography in the Study of the Chemistry of Materials". Other highlights included sessions on Synchrotron Radiation, weak interactions, polymeric network design, supramolecular organic metal coordination complexes, smart materials, graphite nanotube formation, characterization of nanoparticles, high temperature and high pressure studies.