X射线晶体学的创立与发展

2014年，正值X射线晶体学诞生100周年，100年来，晶体对社会发展及人类生活起着重要的作用，它塑造了当今的世界，支撑着今天的科学。鉴于此，2012年7月举行的第66届联合国大会宣布，将2014年作为国际晶体学年(IYCr2014)。晶体X射线衍射的发现对自然科学的影响是深远的，它给人们提供了原子、分子在晶体中的微观排列图像；而X射线光谱学的发展，使人们认识原子结构的规律性，为原子结构理论提供了直接的实验佐证，也使辨别物质的元素成为可能，从而创立了X射线晶体学。X射线的应用，促进了X射线晶体学的发展，使物理学的研究从宏观进入微观，从经典过渡到现代，从而开拓了现代化学、现代生物学和医学的先河，使科学技术产生划时代的进展。文章回顾了X射线晶体学的创立与发展的历程，纵览了X射线晶体学重要的实验元素：光源、探测器、分析软件与晶体学数据库以及实验技术的发展，以怀念科学先驱们对科学技术的贡献。

The founding and development of X-ray crystallography

2014 is the centennial of X-ray crystallography. Crystals have played an important role in our lives and in the development of society throughout these 100 years. In July 2012 the 66th General Assembly of the United Nations declared 2014 to be the official International Year of Crystallography (IYCr2014). The discovery of X-ray diffraction by crystals has had a profound impact on science and technology worldwide. It provides for us a distinct image of the arrangement of atoms or/and molecules in crystals. The development of X-ray spectroscopy has made it possible for us to understand the laws of atomic structure, and thus to identify the elements in all kinds of matter. In this article the greatest events in the history of X-ray crystallography, including the development of X-ray sources,detectors, experimental data analysis, and experimental methods are reviewed to commemorate the pioneers who made such important contributions to science and technology.