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| Abbreviation | IUCr |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1948; 77 years ago (1948) |
| Type | INGO |
Region served | Worldwide |
Official language | English |
Parent organization | International Council for Science |
| Website | www |
TheInternational Union of Crystallography (IUCr) is an organisation devoted to the international promotion and coordination of the science ofcrystallography. The IUCr is a member of theInternational Council for Science (ICSU).
The objectives of the IUCr are to promote international cooperation incrystallography and to contribute to all aspects of crystallography, to promote international publication of crystallographic research, to facilitate standardization of methods, units, nomenclatures and symbols, and to form a focus for the relations of crystallography to other sciences.
The IUCr fulfils these objectives by publishing in print and electronically primary scientific journals through theActa Crystallographica journal series, as well asJournal of Applied Crystallography,Journal of Synchrotron Radiation,IUCrJ,[1] the series of reference volumesInternational Tables for Crystallography,[2] distributing the quarterlyIUCr Newsletter,[3] maintaining the onlineWorld Directory/Database of Crystallographers,[4] awarding theEwald Prize[5] and organising the triennial Congress and General Assembly.
[6][7]In 1944 the yearly meeting of the X-ray Analysis Group (XRAG) of the UKInstitute of Physics was held in Oxford, and the distinguished German crystallographerPaul Peter Ewald, who then taught atQueen's University Belfast, was invited to give the evening lecture. In it he gave a historical survey of some of the stages in the evolution ofX-ray crystallography and ended with a strong plea for the formation of an international society or union which would represent, and unify publication for, the new science. This idea was followed up by the British crystallographers, and particularly by SirLawrence Bragg, the Chairman of XRAG. In June 1946, within a year of the termination of fighting inWWII, he arranged for an international meeting of crystallographers in London which was attended by some 120 scientists from most of the allied countries.[8] In that London meeting Ewald was elected Chairman of the Provisional International Crystallographic Committee, which put into action the decision to form the International Union of Crystallography.[6]
SirLawrence Bragg was the first formally elected President of the IUCr,[6] withRalph Walter Graystone Wyckoff[9] and Arne Westgren[10] as Vice-Presidents. Ewald was elected as 5th President of the IUCr, the 'international society or union' that he had originally conceived, in 1960.[11][12]
The IUCr notation is the notation for the symmetry group adopted by the International Union of Crystallography in 1952. It identifies members of theWallpaper group with a 4 character name. First it has aP orC forprimitive orcentered groups. Groups are denoted by a number 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6 for the highest order of symmetry. Groups can have one or two reflections, denoted as vertical mirrors first (horizontal reflection), and horizontal second (vertical reflection). A simple reflection is denoted by anm (mirror), and a glide-reflection is denoted by ag. Place holder1 denotes an orthogonal direction with no reflections.
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