Hailed by the reviews as an extremely wide-ranging, useful book, this book provides a modern introduction to the chemistry and physics of solids. It offers a unique integrated approach, equally accessible to scientists and engineers.

Praise for the First Edition

“Tilley offers an extremely wide-ranging useful book that is accessible to anyone with a firm grasp of high school science...this is an outstanding and affordable resource for the lifelong learner or current student.”--Choice, June 2005

“invaluable as a source of information on a wide range of materials.”--Materials World, August 2005

Extensive new coverage of:

• Computational science and engineering
• Nanoscale properties
• Point defects
• Advances in crystallography related topics

There have been radical developments in the study of solid state materials over the past 10 years – think batteries, solar cells, graphene, carbon nanotubes – and this new edition has been meticulously updated to reflect these advances. Retaining the structure of the highly- egarded first edition, it contains five parts covering: structures and microstructures; classes of materials; reactions and transformations; physical properties; and nuclear properties of solids.

Each chapter is self-contained to encourage student understanding and to reinforce key concepts, and includes further reading, problems and exercises. Additional resources are available online, including supplementary material, colour figures, solutions to the introductory questions, and problems and exercises.

Equally accessible to both science and engineering students, Understanding Solids, Second Edition provides an invaluable foundation in the physical and chemical properties of solids, and is essential for those studying materials science, physics, chemistry and engineering.

New Topics Include

• Lithium-air batteries
• Flexoelectricity
• Crystal field effects
• Photoinduced magnetism
• Dye sensitized solar cells
• Zero thermal expanding solids
• Radio-isotope dating
• Computer simulations
• Quasicrystals
• Piezoelectricity
• Cuprate superconductors