The 2011 Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman for the discovery of “quasicrystals.”

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Shechtman's work has “altered how chemists conceive of solid matter.” It said Shechtman showed that the atoms

in a crystal could be packed in a pattern that could not be repeated,'' contrary to previous thinking.

The 70-year old professor will receive a $1.5 million award.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences will name the winner of the Literature award Thursday. The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize recipient will be named Friday. An award for economics, given in memory of Alfred Nobel, will be announced October 10.

The Nobel Prizes were created by Alfred Nobel, a wealthy Swedish industrialist who invented dynamite. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901.