Natural or synthetic crystals are essential components of the materials we touch, the soil we walk on, many biogenerated tissues, and the substances we ingest or breathe. The long history of crystallography, from observing the crystal morphologies of minerals to the most recent measurements of the structural conformations of macromolecules and viruses, perfectly parallels our understanding of matter. To know crystals is to penetrate into the essence of materials and the intimate relationship we have with the environment around us. But crystals and their symmetries are also an inexhaustible source of inspiration for art and a continuous creative stimulus for human endeavors, and they place crystallography far beyond the simple measurement of ordered structures.

Video of the conference (italian)