At the dawn of structural crystallography, Walther Friedrich, Paul Knipping and Max von Laue carried out the first experiments and developed the theory of X-ray diffraction. From the early days, when even the simpler inorganic structures filled an entire PhD study, structural crystallography evolved at its own pace and found new partners in chemistry, physics, materials science, biology and other fields of physical sciences. Both morphological and structural crystallography, however, have remained as important instruments in the mineralogist's toolbox until today. Efforts to enhance the existing instrumentation, to improve our understanding of the theory of diffraction, to study nanoparticulate or poorly ordered materials, and to master large, complex structures continue in all fields of physical sciences. Mineralogy can thus use the fruits of this labour and include them in its toolbox.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.