Discovery of the diffraction of X-rays in crystals. Laue’s discovery was of dual importance: it allowed the subsequent investigation of X-radiation by means of wavelength determination, and it provided the means for the Braggs’ structural analysis of crystals, for which they received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915. X-ray analysis of crystals, as initially developed by Sir Lawrence Bragg, became the most widely used technique for the investigation of molecular structure, leading to incalculable advances in both inorganic and organic chemistry, as well as molecular biology. After Max Perutz and his student John Kendrew first successfully applied Braggs’ X-ray crystallographic techniques to the study of the structure of proteins, these techniques were employed by hundreds of thousands of researchers around the world. For further information see the entry at HistoryofInformation.com at this link.

In 1914 von Laue was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals."