This is a set of two books: the Data Book contains images of cards*, each of which provides the name of the mineral, its chemical formula and structural information, each X-ray diffraction peak known for that mineral, and the reference for the data. Once a mineral is identified by its major peaks from an X-ray diffractogram, all other peaks can be assigned to the mineral and eliminated from further analysis (or, not! Sometimes two minerals have the same peak). In many cases, the Miller Index for each peak is provided as well. Relative peak sizes are provided and the 3 to 4 principal, identifying peaks are highlighted.

The second book, the Search Manual, lists principal peaks of all minerals listed in the Data Book in numerical order. There are several ways to do this, yielding four lists: the Fink Index, the Hanawalt Index, chemical formula and mineral name. Fink and Hanawalt indices differ by how the non-primary peaks are listed. This allows one to search by peak position and find a matching mineral.

Computer programs (some propriety to the diffractometer, some shareware [e.g. Macdiff]) perform the search function now. Computerized methods may yield non-realistic results. Having the paper copies to check against is very useful. Another reviewer might address whether the software now available from ICDD provides the Miller Indices for each peak; these were not available in the version this reviewer has. Having the Miller Indices for teaching purposes is essential, so the Data Book is essential for this reviewer.

*Before there were these books, the data for each mineral was listed on a file card. The data were collected as reliable data became available, so each set of cards has a random set of minerals. The Data Book