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The Nobel Prize for chemistry also went to a scientist who surprised the world with his findings. On an April morning in 1982, Israeli chemist Daniel Shechtman mixed together two minerals and created something that he’d thought was impossible. Before Shechtman’s discovery, scientists thought that atoms and molecules inside crystals were packed together in a repeating, symmetrical pattern. Without repetition, there couldn’t be a crystal. But on that April morning, Shechtman didn’t see repetition. Instead, in his mineral mixture he saw patterns that never repeated.

At first, other scientists didn’t believe him. Shechtman said his work was ridiculed by other researchers. His boss even told him to read up on the basics about crystals. Still, Shechtman knew what he’d seen. His work wasn’t published until 1984. Since then, chemists have changed the definition of crystals to include solid materials like Shechtman’s quasi-crystals. Other kinds of quasi-crystals have been created, and naturally occurring quasi-crystals have been found in Russia.

“But he stuck to his guns, and with time researchers found that this unique crystal structure was actually right.”