Unravelling an intricate network of interatomic interactions and their relations to different behaviors of chemical compounds is key to the successful design of new materials for both existing and novel applications, from medicine to innovative concepts of molecular electronics and spintronics. X-ray crystallography has proven to be very helpful in addressing many important chemical problems in modern materials science and biosciences. Intertwined with computational techniques, it provides insights into the nature of chemical bonding and the physicochemical properties (including optical, magnetic, electrical, mechanical, and others) of crystalline materials, otherwise accessible by experimental techniques that are not so readily available to chemists. In addition to the advanced approaches in charge density analysis made possible by X-ray diffraction, the information collected over the years through this technique (which is easily mined from huge databases) has tremendous use in the design of new materials for medicine, gas storage, and separation applications as well as for electronic devices. This Special Issue contains two reviews and five articles that cover very different aspects of ‘composition–structure’ and ‘structure–property’ relations identified by X-ray diffraction and complementary techniques (from conventional IR and Raman spectroscopies to cutting-edge quantum chemical calculations) and their use in crystal engineering and materials science.

Electron Density and Bonding in Crystals: Principles, Theory and X-Ray Diffraction Experiments in Solid State Physics and Chemistry provides a comprehensive, unified account of the use of diffraction techniques to determine the distribution of electrons in crystals. The book discusses theoretical and practical techniques, the application of electron density studies to chemical bonding, and the determination of the physical properties of condensed matter. The book features the authors' own key contributions to the subject as well a thorough, critical summary of the extensive literature on electron density and bonding. Logically organized, coverage ranges from the theoretical and experimental basis of electron density determination to its impact on investigations of the nature of the chemical bond and its uses in determining electromagnetic and optical properties of crystals. The main text is supplemented by appendices that provide clear, concise guidance on aspects such as systems of units, quantum theory of atomic vibrations, atomic orbitals, and creation and annihilation operators. The result is a valuable compendium of modern knowledge on electron density distributions, making this reference a standard for crystallographers, condensed matter physicists, theoretical chemists, and materials scientists.

University Physics is a three-volume collection that meets the scope and sequence requirements for two- and three-semester calculus-based physics courses. Volume 1 covers mechanics, sound, oscillations, and waves. Volume 2 covers thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and Volume 3 covers optics and modern physics. This textbook emphasizes connections between between theory and application, making physics concepts interesting and accessible to students while maintaining the mathematical rigor inherent in the subject. Frequent, strong examples focus on how to approach a problem, how to work with the equations, and how to check and generalize the result. The text and images in this textbook are grayscale.

Chemical Bonding in Solids examines how atoms in solids are bound together and how this determines the structure and properties of materials. Over the years, diverse concepts have come from many areas of chemistry, physics, and materials science, but often these ideas have remained largely within the area where they originated. One of the goals of this text is to bring some of these ideas together and show how a broader picture exists once some of the prejudices which isolate one area from another are removed. This book will be ideal for students taking courses in solid state chemistry, materials chemistry, and solid state physics.

One of the motivating questions in materials research today is, how can elements be combined to produce a solid with specified properties? This book is intended to acquaint the reader with established principles of crystallography and cohesive forces that are needed to address the fundamental relationship between the composition, structure and bonding. Starting with an introduction to periodic trends, the book discusses crystal structures and the various primary and secondary bonding types, and finishes by describing a number of models for predicting phase stability and structure. Containing a large number of worked examples, exercises, and detailed descriptions of numerous crystal structures, this book is primarily intended as an advanced undergraduate or graduate level textbook for students of materials science. It will also be useful to scientists and engineers who work with solid materials.

The present four volumes, published under the collective title of "Chemical Bonds in Solids," are the translation of the two Russian books "Chemical Bonds in Crystals" and "Chemical Bonds in Semiconductors." These contain the papers presented at the Conference on Chemical Bonds held in Minsk between May 28 and June 3, 1967, together with a few other papers (denoted by an asterisk) which have been specially incorporated. Earlier collections (also published by the Nauka i Tekhnika Press of the Belorussian Academy of Sciences) were entitled "Chemical Bonds in Semiconductors and Solids" (1965) and "Chemical Bonds in Semiconductors and Thermody namics" (1966) and are available in English editions from Consultants Bureau, New York (pub lished in 1967 and 1968, respectively). The subject of chemical bonds in crystals, including semiconductors, has recently become highly topical and has attracted the interest of a wide circle of physicists, chemists, and engineers. Until recently, the most successful description of the properties of solids (including semi conductors) has been provided by the band theory, which still dominates the physics of solids. Nevertheless, it is clear that the most universal approach is that based on the general theory of chemical bonds in crystals, in which details of the electron distributions between atoms and of the wave functions appear quite expliCitly.