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Concluding Remarks

Over a hundred space groups can be easily treated using such patterns, and expanding the series to encompass more space groups would pose no problems. In particular, some space groups frequently observed in molecular packings (such as $P\overline{1}$, P2₁, P2₁2₁2 and Pca2₁) can be represented in this manner.⁸

This brief description includes patterns of more space groups than one would normally cover in a non-mathematical introductory course and is meant to provide some choice. For non-crystallographers, who make up the vast majority of students in crystallography classes, some half a dozen suitably chosen patterns, if extensively dealt with, should normally be adequate to develop some desirable skill in recognising a space group and to convey a sufficient understanding of the subject for practical purposes.

Copyright © 1984, 1998 International Union of Crystallography