Solids around Us: Crystals, glass and what else?

The recent award of Nobel Prize to Chemistry to Prof. Daniel Shectman has evoked attentions of various kinds. So does Quasicrystals for which the award is made. Since inception it was mired with controversy, some deserving and some not so deserving. However, these reflect one of the basic quests of mankind, the world around us. We are fascinated by the matters around us both as an individual as well as civilisation. Solids in particular have attracted special attention. We are constantly trying to understand the nature of solid and in the process unravel their architecture. This talk will trace some of the historical developments which led to the definition of solid and how they got modified as we travel in time. There are milestones that we have crossed, milestone that we lay and milestones that may come up in future. This will also allow us to put the discovery of Quasicrystals in proper perspective.