Introduction to crystallography / Введение в кристаллографию

THE proliferation and the importance of the results of crystal structure analysis confront the chemist with the need to learn the language of crystallography. This book is an outgrowth of the opinion that the training of the undergraduate chemistry major can include more of this language than the memorization of a list of lattice types. At the same time, it would be unreasonable and impractical to expect all chemists to become experts in this specialized field. The purpose, therefore, is to treat the subject in a manner that will quickly and painlessly enable the nonspecialist to read and comprehend the crystallographic literature. It is hoped that this introduction may serve as a useful starting point for those students who wish to pursue the subject further.

The principal message is contained in the first four chapters. That is, these chapters supply the vocabulary of crystallography, and descriptions of crystal structures should be rendered intelligible by acquaintance with this language. In order not to discourage the general reader, the use of mathematics has been kept to a minimum. The decision to omit vector and matrix methods was made reluctantly, in order to reduce the prerequisites, but the elegance thus sacrificed is a luxury that some exceptionally competent crystallographers get along without