Bragg (William Lawrence and William Henry)

William Lawrence Bragg and his father, William Henry Bragg, were pioneering scientists in X-ray crystallography. They developed a method to determine the atomic structure of crystals by analyzing how X-rays diffract, or bounce off, the crystal's atoms. This technique allowed scientists to see the arrangement of atoms within a material, advancing understanding in chemistry, biology, and physics. Their work earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915, making William Lawrence Bragg the youngest Nobel laureate in science. Their discovery laid the foundation for modern structural biology, including the determination of DNA’s structure.