Cullity's book is, I think, one of the most interesting books I've ever come across. Let me explain why...if you know diffraction at the level of Ewald sphere, reciprocal lattice, point and space groups at least, you would realize that Dr. Cullity has very effectively accomplished the task of introducing the reader to almost all applied aspects of x-ray diffraction. In this book, you would barely find any word on real space vs. reciprocal space, their relationship by the Fourier Transform etc., the necessary fundamentals are given at such an elementary level, that it requires barely any background beyond Phys 101. In all fairness, to reduce a very complex phenomenon to an easily understandible level certainly requires a lot of creativity... The books' first two chapters efficiently summarize what a person needs to know as the bare minimum background to later learn the specific techniques to analyze materials by x-ray diffraction. The remainder of the book is devoted to experimental methods which are very effectively presented and thoroughly discussed. To make the long story short, this book is for the handyman not for a scientist who's special interest might be in x-ray crystallography or x-ray diffraction. If you want to have an idea what kind of information can be obtained (ranging from lattice parameter determination to quantitative phase analysis) using x-ray diffraction in the study of solids, then this book is for you...