Third-Generation Hard X-ray Synchrotron Radiation Sources. Edited by D. M. Mills. New York: John Wiley, 2002. Price GBP 69.95, ISBN 0-471-31433-1.

As expected, third-generation hard X-ray synchrotron radiation sources did not only speed up data taking with techniques known before but opened the door to new science. The useful spectral range was extended up to some 100 keV photon energies, and various techniques for focusing hard X-rays to even the submicrometer range made X-ray scattering a most attractive tool in modern nanoscale science. Samples under extreme external conditions, such as pressures up to 300 GPa, are studied in detail; the use of phase-contrast imaging allows for tomographic reconstruction of soft matter structures with spatial resolution in the micrometer range; microfluorescence studies with high spatial resolution became a very important tool for environmental research; inelastic X-ray scattering experiments widen most significantly the accessible range for the investigation of dynamics in condensed matter research; and first time-resolved studies in the picosecond time domain became possible. The progress made in the field of surface science is also very impressive where, as an example, the strain field caused by quantum dots in the substrate can be studied in detail by analysing the corresponding diffuse scattering. Needless to say, today crystallography beamlines at third-generation synchrotron radiation facilities are indispensable for modern structural biology.

As mentioned by the editor, not all the new developments due to the availability of extremely reliable third-generation synchrotron radiation facilities could be presented in the book. The following areas are discussed: fundamentals of hard X-ray synchrotron radiation sources; X-ray optics; coherent X-ray diffraction; X-ray microbeam and microscopy techniques; imaging; high-pressure techniques; high-energy X-ray scattering; new directions in X-ray magnetic scattering; macromolecular crystallography; and picosecond structural studies using pulsed synchrotron radiation.

Although the emphasis in this book is mostly on the demonstration of progress made in X-ray optics and instrumentation in general, instructive examples of successful application of the new techniques are well presented and documented in the lists of references. The chapters on the fundamentals of synchrotron radiation sources and on coherent X-ray diffraction are almost tutorial in nature and probably very attractive for the non-specialist. The chapter on time-resolved studies opens the reader's imagination to the revolutionary applications of X-rays which will become possible once the new light sources like free-electron lasers are available.

The individual chapters of this book edited by Dennis M. Mills are well written and will be very useful for the general user of synchrotron radiation facilities as well as for the expert who will find easily his way to the key features of the most recent developments in research with X-rays. The editor and the 24 authors from different fields of science are to be congratulated on this nice and most instructive book.