Fundamental Crystallography

Historical developments suggest that the subject crystallography began with a systematic study of macroscopic crystal forms, and the term ‘crystal’ was traditionally defined in terms of the arrangement and symmetry of the building blocks associated with different crystal forms. At some stage during the development of the subject, the mathematical treatment of geometry and symmetry became the most important aspect in the description of crystals, and it was during this period, the process of nomenclature, such as crystal lattices and crystal systems was took place. Later on, using the mathematical theory of crystal symmetry based on the concept of crystal lattice, Bravais formalized them in 1848, and the crystallographic community accepted the same as final.