John Maxwell Cowley 1923–2004

Abstract

John Cowley contributed significantly to all of the fields that relate to electron diffraction and electron microscopy, and helped to found not a few of them. His name is associated in particular with n-beam dynamical theory, high-resolution electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, instrumental design, and the application of the techniques of electron scattering to structure analysis. His experimental work was not, however, confined to the scattering of electrons: to take but one instance, his seminal work on the theory of short-range order was stimulated initially by his experiments using X-rays, and it was only later that he extended the technique to include electron diffraction. Finally, to all those who practise the techniques of scattering electrons, X-rays, or neutrons in the study of solids, liquids or gases, his book Diffraction Physics remains not only eminently readable but authoritative.