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Dan Shechtman

by Itay from Lod

Dan Holding a model of a quasi-crystal
Dan Holding a model of a quasi-crystal

Hero. A simple word whose meaning every little kid knows. However, the simplest concepts are sometimes the hardest to define. So who actually is a hero? As I see it, hero is a person who performs courageous and determined acts for society or someone else, usually while risking or losing something important to them, such as their life, honor, health or even just time or money. Some people in my class said that there were no heroes in our world, but actually I believe they are around us; I believe that everyone has done something which suits my definition of a hero. Some people are famous because their heroic act caused more of an effect than others, and in this essay I would like to write about one of them: Dr. Dan Shechtman.

Dan Shechtman was born on January 24th 1941 in Tel Aviv, Israel. When he was 21, he started his studies at the Israel Institute of Technology or, as Israelis call it, "The Technion" and finished them in 1972 as a doctor of Material Science. In 1981-1983 Dan performed experiments with metals in Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, USA. One day there, he discovered that a crystal of Manganese and Aluminum has a pentagonal (five point) rotational symmetry. However, there was basic proof in Crystallography (the study of crystal science) that crystals can only have rotational symmetry of 2,3,4 or 6. He was kicked out of his research team when he told them what he had found. He tried to find a new theory to explain these new, quasi (like)-crystals, yet he was a joke within the science community, and even the famous chemist Linus Pauling, who had 2 Nobel Prizes said: "There aren't such things as quasi-crystals, but there are quasi-scientists". Yet, after 30 years of work and contempt from the science community, in 2011 Dan Shechtman got the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his great find which has been helping to create new discoveries since then. In 2014, he decided to use his popularity in Israel in order to run for Israeli president. He said that he was worried about the future of the society in Israel: the low educational level, violence, and the difficulty for some to find a job they can do. Unfortunately, he wasn't elected.

Dan believed in his experiments' results and didn't give up when many scientists told him to "read the textbook again". He fought for the sake of science and he didn't care to lose his honor or friends just because they thought he was wrong. He knew he was right and he proved it the hard way after 30 years, and that is a heroic act for me! Furthermore, he competed for presidency in Israel to make the society better and help people, unlike some others, who care more about money and fame. This is in my opinion is also a heroic act even though he wasn't elected in the end. Sometimes the intent is just as important.

I chose Dan Shechtman because I like science and I searched for an Israeli hero who is connected to science. I enjoyed writing and researching this great man for this project. I learned more about him even though I had known about him before. His heroic deeds make me feel that everything is possible, and today's wrong may be tomorrow's obvious truth. In conclusion, this project mostly granted me inspiration and encouraged me to keep trying, not to give up on the truth and even my dreams.

Page created on 5/9/2017 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 5/9/2017 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.