Preface to the Second Edition

Preface to Second Edition

Preface to the Second Paperback Edition

This book was the result of emigration across disciplinary boundaries. The point of departure was cognitive psychology and its philosophical underpinnings, a realm of meticulous experimental observation and highly generalized interpretative reasoning. The eventual destination was international security policy whose reigning doctrine—the concept of deterrence—was derived from an idealized vision...

Preface to the Second English Edition

The second English edition is largely based on the third German edition of the Teubner Studienbuch “ Kristallstrukturbestimmung,” which appeared in 2002. In particular, Chapter 7, dealing with experimental methods, has been extensively rewritten. In view of the huge recent advances in the use of area detector systems for single-crystal data collection, their description has replaced much of the...

Preface to the First Edition

Preface to the First Edition

First Edition “We are to admit no more causes of natural things” (as we are told by Newton) than “such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances.” This central theme is basic to the pursuit of science, and goes back to the principle known as Occam’s razor: “if presented with a choice between indifferent alternatives, then one ought to select the simplest one.” Unconsciously o...