W0111

Crystallographic Education: The Role of the Point Groups. Larry R. Falvello, University of Zaragoza, Dept. of Inorganic Chemistry, Plaza San Francisco s/n, E-50009 Zaragoza, Spain, falvello@posta.unizar.es

An exposition of the crystallographic point groups is an ideal vehicle for explaining the nature of the crystal systems, the Laue groups and other groupings that are useful to the diffractionist. Beyond its pedagogical utility, however, mastery of the point groups and the layout of the point group table, together with an understanding of point-group/space-group isogonality and its consequences, provide the diffractionist with a readily accessible tool of everyday utility in structural crystallography.