I wish to thank all the members of my former research group for their talents and dedication in pursuing some optimistic experiments for 24/7 periods with food of varying desirability. Much of the developments came with collaborations that extended beyond a single position and with staff members from other institutions: Neville Greaves, Andy Dent, Sofia Diaz‐Moreno, Norman Binsted, Trevor Gauntlett, Fred Mosselmans, Judith Corker, Steven Fiddy, Mark Newton, Moniek Tromp, Peter Wells, and Stuart Bartlett. Judith’s loss to leukemia in 1998 remains a deep sadness. The book builds on the immense expertise of those who design, construct, develop, and operate these great accelerator‐based light sources. Advances in science, technology medicine, and cultural heritage owe much to them.
In the writing of the book, I have been helped greatly by staff at Diamond and colleagues for providing raw data and graphics. Special thanks go to Stuart Bartlett, Andrew Hector, Fred Mosselmans, Sofia Diaz‐Moreno, Roberto Boada Romero, Sarnjeet Dhesi, and Liz Duke. I am grateful, too, for the support of the CEOs of Diamond Light Source, Gerd Materlik, and Andrew Harrison, and also from EPSRC in the form of the Dynamic Structural Science and Catalysis Hub consortia at the Research Complex at Harwell. I am grateful for the confidence shown in this project by Jenny Cossham at Wiley and the continued patience of the staff at Wiley through the years. Inevitably, this has impacted on my family the most. Without the support of my wife, Hilary, and our daughters, Beccy and Lisa, and their families, this would not have reached fruition.