Methods of scientific investigation can be divided into two categories: they are either macroscopic or microscopic in nature. The former are generally older, classical methods where the sample as a whole is studied and various local prop erties are deduced by differentiation. The microscopic methods, on the other hand, have been discovered and developed more recently, and they operate for the most part on an atomistic scale. Glancing through the shelves of books on the various scientific fields, and, in particular, on the field of physical metallurgy, we are surprised at how lit tle...