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From Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faust (1604) to Oxygen (2000) by Carl Djerassi and Roald Hoffmann, there is a long tradition of dramatic work related to science and scientist. More recently, the enormously successful Copenhagen (1998) by Michael Frayn's and a wave of new plays about scientific themes such as Arcadia, Wit, After Darwin and others have created new dramatic phenomenon. These works are not the conventional documentary-dramas about scientific discovery but engaging plays. A recent book entitled Science on Stage (1) reviews more than a hundred plays presenting scientific themes on stage. Beginning in 2005, a play was developed with the objective of conveying the concepts and history of crystallography to large audiences in a dramatic setting. The script centers on the mural drawn by Picasso in 1950 at the flat of the iconic crystallographer J.D. Bernal, during his historical meeting with the world-famous artist. The main characters discuss the concepts of crystallography and explore the interconnections between Science and Art. The script has had several readings in academic settings (University of Illinois at Chicago, 2007; Barcelona, Zaragoza, Spain, 2008). The première staged reading of the play was produced at Argonne National Laboratory on May 4th2008. Details can be found at http://www.aps.anl.gov/Users/Meeting/2008/Picasso/index.php. The project has developed from an initial script entitled `Picasso Meets Crystallography' emphasizing the concepts and history of crystallography to the more dramatically-rich version entitled `Bernal's Picasso', which explores the relationships between Science and Art and is intended for wider theater audiences. The presentation will discus the history of the project with vignettes of previous performances, its multiple facets and its future development as a novel way to convey crystallography to wider audiences, and to explore in a dramatic context the role of crystallography in today's society
abstracts
Organic electronics offer exciting new alternatives to traditional inorganic devices based on advantages such as lower cost, ease of manufacture and flexibility. Small molecule semiconductors such as pentacene and rubrene are the focus of intense research due to performance approaching that of inorganic semiconductors. Charge transfer in polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) relies on the degree of π-conjugation and overlap of the π-systems of neighbouring molecules in the solid state. Small changes in the intermolecular interactions can lead to important changes in crystal packing and electronic properties. Thus, functionalization of PAHs is often used to improve their packing in the solid state. The addition of electronegative atoms into the ring system of pentacene has been proposed for improving stability while retaining attractive properties. [1] N-heteroacenes result from the substitution of nitrogen into the arene ring structure. The resulting potential for weak hydrogen bonding could direct coplanar molecular arrangements, sheet formation and favourable π-overlap for charge transport. Theoretical studies [2] have been carried out showing promising properties at the molecular level. As of yet no analysis of the solid state of these molecules has been performed to investigate how this substitution affects the packing and electronic properties. Here, we present the results of crystal structure prediction studies and calculation of charge transport properties aimed at understanding the influence of nitrogen substitution on the crystal packing of N-heteropentacenes and their performance as semiconducting materials.
