In this 1995 book, all of the techniques available for analysing crystal structures are described at a professional level. These techniques are applied in molecular biology, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, and metallurgy. The fundamental physics and the mathematical analyses are fully explained.

Theoretical and experimental advances in the techniques available for solving crystal structures have led to the development of several powerful techniques in crystallography for solving complex structures, including those of proteins. Michael Woolfson and Fan Hai-fu describe all the available methods and how they are used. In addition to traditional methods such as the use of the Patterson function and isomorphous replacement, and direct methods, the authors include methods that use anomalous scattering and observations from multiple-beam scattering. The fundamental physics and mathematical analyses are fully explained. Practical aspects of applying the methods are emphasised. This book will be valuable to working crystallographers and to graduate students who are being introduced to the problems of solving crystal structures.