Crystallography made crystal clear (2nd edition). By Gale Rhodes. London: Academic Press, 2000. Pp. xix + 269 + 21 colour plates. Price £29.95 (paperback) ISBN 012 587072 8.

The first edition of this useful little guide for the non-specialist was reviewed in this journal by Michal Sabat [Acta Cryst. (1995), D51, 1103 ]. This second edition corrects a number of errors in the original and adds two new chapters: Other diffraction methods, dealing with diffraction of neutrons and electrons, diffraction by fibres and amorphous materials, as well as Laue diffraction and time-resolved crystallography, and Other kinds of macromolecular models, dealing with the results of NMR studies, homology models and other theoretical models. Leaving aside the author's somewhat eccentric view that there is little difference between experimental and theoretical models, the book is a good first introduction for the begining student and a helpful overview for other structural scientists. However, visualizing the otherwise excellent stereo plates without a viewer is no easier than it was with the first edition; the publisher would do well to include one.