New film premieres sparkling history ofcrystallography

– Anew documentary, charting the history ofcrystallography tells a fascinating story of ascientific technique that is revealing many oflife’s most beautiful secrets. The 40 minutefilm includes exclusive interviews withinternationally acclaimed scientists andunique glimpses into rarely seen historicalcollections44:08

Oxfordshire, UK, September 3rd, 2014

The film celebrates the work and lives of thefounding fathers of crystallography – Sir

William Henry Bragg and his son, Sir William Lawrence Bragg. For the first time, the public willgain an insight into the technique which has been fundamental to many of the most importantscientific discoveries of the last 100 years, while at the same time learning how 21 centuryscience facilities are helping scientists to solve even more complex crystallography problems.Bragg’s Law is one of the most famous equations in science and has played a vital role in manysubsequent discoveries, from the development of antibiotics to the uncovering of the doublehelix in DNA.

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Produced by Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron science facility, incollaboration with the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the film will be generally available as aresource to schools, universities, scientists and the wider public. It can be viewed using a linkon the Diamond Light Source website from September 2nd and will also be shown in a varietyof Oxfordshire cinemas and art centres throughout the remainder of 2014.

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Professor Sir Tom Blundell© Diamond Light Source 2014

Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron and functions like a giant microscope. Agiant silver doughnut shaped X-ray machine the size of Wembley stadium, Diamond is nestledamidst the Oxfordshire countryside. It produces a light 10 billion times brighter than the sun,which is used by 3000 scientists each year for cutting-edge scientific experiments across abroad range of areas. Diamond is used to study everything, from fossils to jet engines to virusesand vaccines. Diamond hopes that the film will promote public understanding of crystallography:a critical scientific field which is vital to modern scientific research.

The film includes commentary and insight from leading international scientists from the UK,France, Italy, Australia and the USA, including Professor Sir Tom Blundell, Professor WilliamDuax, Professor Davide Viterbo and Professor André Authier.

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Lady Bragg's Dress© Diamond Light Source 2014

Professor Andrew Harrison, CEO of Diamond Light Source, explains: “Crystallography hasfostered countless scientific advances since its inception and remains fundamental to scientificexploration and discovery. This film brings us right up to date with the pioneering work currentlybeing done using this technique. At Diamond, crystallography is essential to research into greenenergy solutions, new materials, antibiotics, cancer, Alzheimer’s and HIV.

“This film is an important educational resource, not to mention a vital historical record, and it isour hope that it will play a part in engaging and inspiring the general public and the nextgeneration of scientists with the story of crystallography, charting the road to modern science.” This film launch coincides with UNESCO’s International Year of Crystallography, as well as thecentenary of the Nobel Prize for Physics being awarded to the Braggs. The film features rarelyseen footage and scientific artefacts, including the dress worn by Lawrence Bragg’s wife Alice,designed based on the patterns created through Lawrence’s crystallography experiments.

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Historical artefacts have been drawn from the Royal Institution, The Cavendish Laboratory, TheLaboratory of Molecular Biology, The Clarendon Laboratory Oxford, and the Braggs’ privatecollection, many of which were filmed at the Two Braggs Exhibition at the University ofWarwick.

Dress worn by Lawrence Bragg's wife Alice, design based on the patterns created throughLawrence's crystallography experiments© Diamond Light Source 2014

Crystallography is the hidden science behind many aspects of our lives and has allowedscientists to achieve success in almost every area. Scientists at Diamond have usedcrystallography to uncover the precise shapes of human proteins which are leading to thedesign of better drugs. Crystallography has supported breakthroughs in harnessing the energysources of the future, and has aided in the design of life-saving vaccines, most recently tocombat Food & Mouth disease.

Sir Lawrence Bragg’s daughter, Patience Thomson, comments: “This film is a wonderfulportrayal of my father and grandfather’s scientific achievements. I hope it will provide us all withan appreciation of how their years of dedication resulted in a discovery that would change theworld as we knew it. Bragg’s Law is the foundation of crystallography and has allowed scientiststo look to the atomic level and see things that were once invisible. I am immensely proud ofthem and very excited to see their achievements celebrated in this way.”

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Patience Thompson playing cards with her Father, Sir Lawrence Bragg

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