Abstract

<h2>Acta Crystallographica Section A</h2><h3>Crystal Physics, Diffraction, Theoretical and General Crystallography</h3><h3>0567-7394</h3> <h2>book reviews</h2> Volume 27 Part 5 Pages 507-508 September 1971 <h2> Crystals and X-rays by H. S. Lipson</h2> R. W. Whitworth Crystals and X-rays. By H. S. LIPSON. Pp.xiv+ 198. Lon- don: Wykeham Publications (Science Series), 1970. Price £ 1.75. This little volume should appeal to the general reader interested in science and, in particular, in the origins and methods of X-ray crystal structure analysis. The writing is bright and lively. The reader is presented, quickly and pain- lessly, with brief and informative descriptions of the begin- nings of X-ray crystallography, its experimental methods, its early successes in solving simple crystal structures, and the application of Fourier and related methods to more complex structure problems. Professor Lipson's use of the analogies between the optics of visible light and X-rays enables him to present many aspects of crystal structure from relatively novel and stimulating points of view. This reviewer cannot resist the temptation to draw attention to one of Professor Lipson's rare crystallographic lapses: on p. 68 he notes that lines of reciprocal-lattice points are arranged along curves in Weissenberg photo- graphs and that 'certain lines are straight; these