Crystals. Growth, morphology, and perfection / Кристаллы. Рост, морфология и совершенство

Crystals are solid materials having regular atomic arrangements characterized by periodicity and anisotropy. These properties are universally present, irrespective of whether the crystal is inorganic or organic, in living systems or in the inanimate world. Crystals exhibit various external forms, as represented by the elaborately varied dendritic forms of snow crystals or the hexagonal prismatic forms of rock-crystal. This variety of shape has stimulated scientific curiosity since the seventeenth century, since when intensive efforts have been made to understand the reasons why and how crystals can take a variety of forms <...>