[Short Notices]

Abstract

THIS is really an excellent book on an interesting topic written in a clear and convincing manner with many suggestive remarks. Whilst the application of X-ray and electron diffraction methods of investigation are now a matter of routine both in the research laboratories and in industry to materials in the form of crystalline solids, it is only recently that the methods have been applied to the elucidation of the structure of gases, liquids and amorphous solids. A general survey of the principles of X-ray crystallography is first given and the method of application of these principles to microcrystalline systems and single molecules is then discussed. Whilst some advance in the application of X-rays to the investigation of liquids has been made, it is interesting to note that but little work has been carried out on the diffraction of electrons by liquids, a field of undoubted importance especially in connexion with the problem of lubrication. Some fifty pages are devoted to the structure of important substances such as glasses, coal and fibres, including an excellent although short account of Astbury's work on the proteins. The last chapter is devoted to the results obtained in investigating the phenomena of melting and liquid crystals.

The Diffraction of X-Rays and Electrons by Amorphous Solids, Liquids and Gases.

By J. T. Randall. Pp. xii + 290 + 31 plates. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1934.) 21s. net.