Increasingly sophisticated tools are used in our technical civilisation. We need to know more about the characteristics of the matter these tools are constructed from and be able to adjust these characteristics to our needs. Since the characteristics are mainly determined by the quality and particular arrangement of constituent atoms, i.e. the atomic structure, a precise knowledge of these is indispensable to the production of reliable and appropriate tools for various applications. There are several techniques to determine atomic structure, the lecture presents the principles, existing and future difficulties of the most widely spread: the x-ray measurement technique. We learn why waves are suitable for measuring atomic level distances, how to produce x-rays for measurement (traditional x-ray tube or a synchrotron) and how the structure is actually defined by x-ray. We also learn about new methods developed by researchers to resolve the theoretical and practical problems arising in the x-ray measurement technique such as the development of x-ray free electron lasers, fourth generation x-ray sources and the x-ray holography technique. The aim of the research into the structure of matter is to obtain qualitatively new information and to understand how nature works.

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