The first systematic experiments in neutron scattering were carried out in the late 1940s using fission reactors built for the nuclear power programme. Crystallographers were amongst the first to exploit the new technique, but they were soon followed by condensed matter physicists and chemists. Engineers and biologists are the most recent recruits to the club of neutron users. The aim of the book is to provide a broad survey of the experimental activities of all these users. There are many specialist monographs describing particular examples of the application of neutron scattering: fifteen of such monographs have been published already in the Oxford University Press series edited by S. Lovesey and E. Mitchell. However this book will appeal to newcomers to the field of neutron scattering, who may be intimidated by the bewildering array of instruments at central facilities (such as the Institut Laue Langevin in France, the ISIS Laboratory in the UK, or the PSI Laboratory in Switzerland), and who may be uncertain as to which instrument to use.
