ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the ‘classical’ concepts and methods of stereology. It may serve as a self-contained introduction to basic stereological ideas.
2.1 Volume fraction
2.1.1 Delesse’s principle
From the early 19th century, microscopes were used in mineralogy and metallurgy to study the internal structure of materials. Rocks and metals had to be cut with a saw, polished to a flat surface, and viewed under the microscope in reflected light. This technique of ‘metallography’ was used mainly for the qualitative study of microscopic structure; but in 1847 the young French geologist A.E. Delesse∗ proposed that it could also be used for quantitative purposes.
