'To summarise, Professor Ladd has written a highly engaging text designed to provide the underlying principles of crystal structure determination through X-ray diffraction data. This text would be most appropriate for an early stage postgraduate or researcher interested in learning both the underlying principles of crystallography and gaining some practice with structure-solving software.'Contemporary PhysicsDesigned for those who wish to understand and engage with the principles behind the process of crystal structure determination by X-ray diffraction, this title contains a comprehensive series of chapters, each of which concludes with a set of problems, for which solutions are provided. An ideal resource for senior undergraduates and early-stage postgraduates, The Essence of Crystallography has an accompanying website with programs written for the text, including an interactive simulation of crystal structure determination using prepared intensity data sets.