Abstract
A brief account is given of the history of X-ray crystallography from its beginning in 1912 to the present time. Particular emphasis is placed on the phase problem, the major obstacle in the path leading from the observed X-ray diffraction pattern to the desired crystal structure. The essential role which mathematics plays in resolving this problem is also stressed.
Structural Chemistry 1990, 1(6):617–620.
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This work was supported by the National Science Foundation grant number CHE-8822296.
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Hauptman, H.A. (2015). History of X-Ray Crystallography. In: Hargittai, I., Hargittai, B. (eds) Science of Crystal Structures. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19827-9_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19827-9_2
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