Understanding crystal structures

Basic concepts of crystallography

Emil Zolotoyabko 

Weinheim, Germany: Wiley VCH 

2011 | 276pp | ?40 (PB) 

ISBN 9783527330096 

Reviewed by Mark Peacock 

This book concisely covers an overview of the theory of crystallography without particularly indulging in very heavy, complicated mathematics - the essentials are presented well. The subjects covered in the book give a well balanced overview of the theory, which would most likely suit new academics and burgeoning crystallographers alike, before they move on to more specialist texts where deep theoretical knowledge is needed.

There are good clear explanations of the basic symmetry elements, which all lead on logically to point groups, Bravis lattices and atomic packing - along with all of the pictorial aids in the book, which are neatly drawn, this helps to offer elegant explanations of the subjects covered. There are numerous clear diagrams to aid the explanations of reciprocal space, and an explanation of this from a physical point of view. Those working in the field of x-ray diffraction would find the text useful for the basic theory of crystallography, although this doesn’t particularly cover the use of x-ray diffraction. However, this is available in many other texts.

As it does not go into the minutia of more advanced books, the text is also useful as an aid for what crystallography could offer in any solid state research of any discipline, or general heterogeneous catalysis (for those not currently practising crystallography).

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