Crystals That Nature Might Miss Creating

No one should have any objections against the claim that the diamond crystal, the most precious gem polished usually with the brilliant cut, casts a spell on us by its stunning beauty. The beauty would be more enhanced and its emotional appeal would be raised to rational one if we would explore the microscopic structure, say the periodic arrangement of carbon atoms, which is actually responsible for the dazzling glaze caused by the effective refraction and reflection of light. Figure 1, found in many text books of solid state physics, illustrates the arrangement of atoms together with the bonding (depicted by virtual lines) of atoms provoked by atomic force. A close look at this figure (or its readymade model preferably) reveals that, as a 1-dimensional diagram in space, the diamond crystal is formed by a wed of the same hexagonal rings and has a “very big” symmetry, thereby being conspicuously distinguished from other crystals by its “microscopic beauty”.