ALAN L. MACKAY

Alan L. Mackay (b. 1926 in Wolverhampton, England) is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Crystallography, Birkbeck College, London University and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society (London). He was a student of Trinity College in Cambridge 1944–1947 and received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in physics and his D.Sc. degree in crystallography and studies of science from London University. He has been associated with the Department of Crystallography of Birkbeck College, London University, since 1951 where he became Professor Emeritus in 1991. Among his scientific achievements is that he predicted the existence of what are called today quasicrystals some time before they were experimentally discovered. He has expanded the realm of crystallography, has broken out of the rigid rules of classical crystallography, did pioneering work in icosahedral packing, and discovered what is known today as the Mackay icosahedron. We recorded several conversations in London in October, 1994, and what follows is a compilation from these conversations.