The Structure of Materials (Mit Series in Materials Science and Engineering)
About the Book In The Structure of Materials, Allen and Thomas develop universal structural descriptors for the states of condensed matter that comprise materials: liquids, glasses, crystals, liquid crystals, and quasicrystals. They present and copiously illustrate many examples of detailed atomic arrangements and bonding for both organic and inorganic materials. Structure's connection to material properties and processing is treated along with important technological applications. Hierarchical structures spanning the nano- to macro-scale and their relevance in commercial materials are depicted. The authors describe in detail all forms of symmetry and their consequences for physical properties. Imperfections in both crystalline and liquid-crystalline materials and their strong influence on properties are also discussed. The hundreds of illustrations, worked example problems, and numerous exercises demonstrate the application of the principles of structure to a variety of material types. All readers-from students to researchers newly entering the field of materials science and engineering-will benefit from the broad coverage of topics, extensive references, and additional reading suggestions.