First Discovery of Spiral Crystals

Dr. Charles McGee Heck was a professor and Head of the Physics Department at NC State University. He discovered the first known spiral crystal and devised the multiple radiator for meteorological research and weather forecasting.

Professor Heck studied radiation interchanges between earth and sky as well as crystallography. He received his A. B. from Wake Forest College in 1900 and his A.M. from Columbia University in 1901. Professor Heck was Head of the NC State Physics Department from 1913 to 1946. In retirement he devoted himself to writing a history of Raleigh, N.C.

Electron micrograph of a spiral crystal. When a crystal is grown slowly from the vapor phase, the region along the surface step of a screw dislocation is energetically favorable for additional growth, and crystallization can proceed by the deposition of continuous winding spiral. The micrograph here provides an image of a spiral crystal. The bar at the lower right is 10µm long.