Charge Densities Come of Age

摘要

In 1915,just three years after the discovery of X-ray diffraction by Von Laue,Peter Debye noted that "the scattering from light atoms should get more attention,since along this way it should be possible to determine the arrangement of electrons in crystals".Debye's statement preceded the development of quantum mechanics and Born's definition of electron probability distribution,but correctly assumed that the electron distribution was an observable that had become accessible.