Editorial

Some of the most important materials in the world, ranging from silk to DNA, are fibers and our best insight into the molecular level structure of these materials comes from fiber analysis. At first glance it seems to the casual viewer that the sparse nature of a fiber diffraction pattern could hardly provide much information on the complex polymers that make up a fiber. But, ingenious techniques developed over the past 50 years and the constant improvements in data collection, processing and analysis have allowed the field to flourish. The cover pictures and the following report on the Third Fiber Diffraction Workshop from Rick Millane reflect the power and diversity of the techniques.