Seashells: 

(Sfx: Ocean ambience)

     Ozin: "The shell . . . has been something of interest to people for 3,000
years."

     SEA SHELLS AREN'T JUST BEAUTIFUL--THEY'RE MATHEMATICALLY
FASCINATING.  THE SPIRALS OF SEA SHELLS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT HANDED AND
ALWAYS CIRCLE AROUND IN A VERY SPECIFIC KIND OF SPIRAL KNOWN AS A
LOGARITHMIC SPIRAL.  AND GEOFFREY OZIN HAS FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO
RECREATE THEM IN THE LAB. 

     Ozin: "This whole field . . . has sort of outclassed . . .chemists in the sense
that nature can create all of these shapes. . . and we look at these and we feel
we know how to work with molecules, we know how to work with atoms. . .but
how do you create these curved shapes?"

     WHEN CHEMISTS BUILD TINY STRUCTURES IN THE LAB--THEY THROW A BUNCH
OF MOLECULES TOGETHER AND LET THEM JOIN UP HOWEVER THEY MAY.  THIS
MIGHT SEEM RANDOM BUT IT PRODUCES VERY REGULAR PATTERNS SINCE THE
MOLECULES WILL FIT TOGETHER IN PRECISE WAYS--THE SAME WAY THAT THERE'S A
NATURAL WAY TO STACK ROWS AND ROWS Of ORANGES IN THE SUPERMARKET. 
IN FACT, ANIMAL SHELLS GROW THIS WAY, TOO, THE FANCY SPIRAL SHAPE IS AN
AUTOMATIC OUTCOME OF THE WAY THE MOLECULES FIT TOGETHER.  BUT NO
MATTER HOW THEY TRY, SCIENTISTS IN THE LAB HAVE ALWAYS JUST GOTTEN ROWS
AND ROWS OF NEATLY STACKED MOLECULES INSTEAD OF FANCY SPIRALS.  UNTIL
NOW.  OZIN'S LAB AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FOUND THAT IF THEY STARTED
WITH A TINY SEED OF THE RIGHT SHAPE THEN THE MOLECULES WOULD SELF-ASSEMBLE INTO CURLICUES INSTEAD OF CUBES.  
 
     Ozin: "We made all sorts of interesting shapes with curved surfaces. . .
we've made discoid shapes, gyroidal shapes, spindle shapes . . .shapes that look
like knots. . ."