This special issue of Microscopy and Microanalysis explores quantitative electron diffraction from nonbiological materials. Jim Turner and I have put many hours of work into bringing it together, and we thank the authors for their fine contributions. The articles cover a wide range of materials and techniques, from convergent-beam electron diffraction (CBED) to the new Kohler SAD mode, as well as the use of direct methods, the study of diffuse elastic scattering from defects, strain measurement, and multiwavelength methods. We were sorry that we could not obtain recent work using the precession electron diffraction camera by our deadline, but readers should be aware of that promising method also.