Lord Kelvin

The Molecular Tactics of a Crystal Lord Kelvin

My subject this evening is not the physical properties of crystals, not even their dynamics; it is merely the geometry of the structure-the arrangement of the molecules in the constitution of a crystal. Every crystal is a homogeneous assemblage of small bodies or molecules. The converse proposition is scarcely true, unless in a very extended sense of the term crystal. I can best explain a homogeneous assemblage of molecules by asking you to think of a homogeneous assemblage of people. To be homogeneous every person of the assemblage must be equal and similar to every other: they must be seated in rows or standing in rows in a perfectly similar manner. Each person, except those on the borders of the assemblage, must have a neighbour on one side and an equi-distant neighbour on the other: a neighbour on the left front and an equi-distant neighbour behind on the right, a neighbour on the right front and an equi-distant neighbour behind on the left.