Synopsis of Basic Crystallography

Basic Crystallography J. -J. Rousseau Department of Physics, University of Maine, Le Mans, France Translated from the French by A. James, University of Picardie, France Basic Crystallography deals with the basic principles of geometrical crystallography which are introduced through the study of lattices, symmetry operations and the enumeration and construction of point groups and space groups. Stereographic projection is used to enable students to visualise crystallographic structures in real space. The author devotes the second part of the book to X-ray crystallography, showing how different diffraction directions depend on the lattice and how spot intensities are related to the unit-cell. To give students an understanding of the principles of structural determination, the classical techniques of diffraction and methods of interpreting spectra are examined. To tackle the more challenging aspects of the subject, help is given to the student in the form of exercises with answers and a computer disk accompanies the book allowing readers to work through exercises and plot their own crystallographic data. Written primarily for final year undergraduate students of physics, chemistry, materials science and geometry the book will also be useful for engineering students.