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 38 Part 3 Pages 397-398 May 1982 <h2> Structural phase transitions. I edited by K. A. Müller and H. Thomas</h2> P. Krishna Acta Cryst. (1982). A38, 397 F~fty Years of Electron DOfraction Fifty Years of Electron Diffraction was published in 1981 by D. Reidel Publishing Company for the International Union of Crystallography and is edited by Peter Goodman, CSIRO, Melbourne, Australia. This important publication is the first of its kind to present the history and the current status report of this rapidly growing subject. It provides a valuable reference source for students and researchers in the associated fields of crystallography, scattering physics, molecular structures in gases and the electron microscopy of solids. Part I gives a lively, newly researched account of the pioneer period, 1924-1928, when industrial research and early quantum mechanics produced the first definite evidence for electron diffraction. Part II completes the history with memoirs from 36 of the most distinguished scholars in the field. Part III is a text-level reference on six branches of the subject, ranging from scattering theory through to structure analysis. Liberally illustrated, the volume incorporates a comprehensive literature