Introduction

1997 was the "Year of the Electron" because it marked the centenary of the celebrated discovery of the smallest of the fundamental particles that make up ordinary matter, and which has proved to have so many remarkable properties that, after light, it has become the most widely used of the particles in scientific and technological applications. STEM is a discipline of importance to a growing number of microscopists. This book is essential reading for undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers requiring an up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to this rapidly growing, state-of-the-art technique.