Sir William Henry Bragg was a British physicist, chemist and mathematician, who alongside his son William Lawrence Bragg, was instrumental in the discovery of the technique of x-ray crystallography. In 1915 they jointly shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays.
X-ray crystallography is an imaging technique used to determine the composition of crystalline proteins. Within a crystal structure, the atoms, ions or molecules within the material are arranged in a rigid crystal lattice formation:
A crystal lattice structure
A digram demonstrating the angels within a crystal lattice structure
To determine the composition of the material, x-rays are fired through the crystal and are scattered. This scatter pattern is recorded and the data collected gives scientists clues as to which elements make up the structure. The spaces between points of data correlate to certain elements and an accurate picture can then be formed.
An example of the image formed as a crystal structure is x-rayed and analysed
This discovery was made at the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology within the University of Leeds campus. Many areas of the University of Leeds campus are considered public spaces within Leeds and the Astbury Centre hosts a £17 million facility that is available to students and scientists all over the country.
Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, School of Chemistry, University of Leeds
This scientific information and imagery will be used to form a basis of the design for the poster.