Building on the foundation of the Second Edition, Symmetry and Structure: Readable Group Theory for Chemists, Third Edition turns the complex and potentially difficult subject of group theory into an accessible and readable account of this core area of chemistry. By using a diagrammatical approach and demonstrating the physical principles involved in understanding group theory, the text provides a non-mathematical, yet thorough, treatment of this broad topic. This new edition has been fully revised and updated to include a much more three-dimensional and accurate visualization of many of the key topics. The chapter on octahedral molecules is extended to cover the important topic of the ligand field theory of octahedral transition metal complexes. Problems and summaries are included at the end of each chapter, the book provides detailed answers to frequently asked questions, and numerous diagrams and tables are featured for ease of reading and to enhance student understanding. Symmetry and Structure: Readable Group Theory for Chemists, Third Edition is an essential textbook for all students, researchers and lecturers in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, physics and material science.

Building on the foundation of the Second Edition, Symmetry and Structure: Readable Group Theory for Chemists, Third Edition turns the complex and potentially difficult subject of group theory into an accessible and readable account of this core area of chemistry. By using a diagrammatical approach and demonstrating the physical principles involved in understanding group theory, the text provides a non-mathematical, yet thorough, treatment of this broad topic. This new edition has been fully revised and updated to include a much more three-dimensional and accurate visualization of many of the key topics. The chapter on octahedral molecules is extended to cover the important topic of the ligand field theory of octahedral transition metal complexes. Problems and summaries are included at the end of each chapter, the book provides detailed answers to frequently asked questions, and numerous diagrams and tables are featured for ease of reading and to enhance student understanding. Symmetry and Structure: Readable Group Theory for Chemists, Third Edition is an essential textbook for all students, researchers and lecturers in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, physics and material science.

In this book Rickles considers several interpretative difficulties raised by gauge-type symmetries (those that correspond to no change in physical state). The ubiquity of such symmetries in modern physics renders them an urgent topic in philosophy of physics. Rickles focuses on spacetime physics, and in particular classical and quantum general relativity. Here the problems posed are at their most pathological, involving the apparent disappearance of spacetime! Rickles argues that both traditional ontological positions should be replaced by a structuralist account according to which relational structure is what the physics is about. · Unified treatment of gauge symmetries and their relationship to ontology in physics · Brings philosophy of space and time into step with developments in modern physics · Argues against the received view on the implications of symmetries in physics · Provides elementary treatments of technical issues · Illustrates a novel defense of structuralism

The book presents the basic information needed to understand and to organize the huge amount of known structures of crystalline solids. Its basis is crystallographic group theory (space group theory), with special emphasis on the relations between the symmetry properties of crystals.

Symmetry and group theory provide us with a formal method for the description of the geometry of objects by describing the patterns in their structure. In chemistry it is a powerful method that underlies many apparently disparate phenomena. Symmetry allows us to accurately describe the types of bonding that can occur between atoms or groups of atoms in molecules. It also governs the transitions that may occur between energy levels in molecular systems, which in turn allows us to predict the absorption properties of molecules and hence their spectra. Molecular Symmetry lays out the formal language used in the area using illustrative examples of particular molecules throughout. It then applies the ideas of symmetry to describe molecular structure, bonding in molecules and consider the implications in spectroscopy. Topics covered include: Symmetry elements Symmetry operations and products of operations Point groups used with molecules Point group representations, matrices and basis sets Reducible and irreducible representations Applications in vibrational spectroscopy Symmetry in chemical bonding Molecular Symmetry is designed to introduce the subject by combining symmetry with spectroscopy in a clear and accessible manner. Each chapter ends with a summary of learning points, a selection of self-test questions, and suggestions for further reading. A set of appendices includes templates for paper models which will help students understand symmetry groups. Molecular Symmetry is a must-have introduction to this fundamental topic for students of chemistry, and will also find a place on the bookshelves of postgraduates and researchers looking for a broad and modern introduction to the subject.

Crystals are sometimes called 'Flowers of the Mineral Kingdom'. In addition to their great beauty, crystals and other textured materials are enormously useful in electronics, optics, acoustics and many other engineering applications. This richly illustrated text describes the underlying principles of crystal physics and chemistry, covering a wide range of topics and illustrating numerous applications in many fields of engineering using the most important materials today. Tensors, matrices, symmetry and structure-property relationships form the main subjects of the book. While tensors and matrices provide the mathematical framework for understanding anisotropy, on which the physical and chemical properties of crystals and textured materials often depend, atomistic arguments are also needed to quantify the property coefficients in various directions. The atomistic arguments are partly based on symmetry and partly on the basic physics and chemistry of materials. After introducing the point groups appropriate for single crystals, textured materials and ordered magnetic structures, the directional properties of many different materials are described: linear and nonlinear elasticity, piezoelectricity and electrostriction, magnetic phenomena, diffusion and other transport properties, and both primary and secondary ferroic behavior. With crystal optics (its roots in classical mineralogy) having become an important component of the information age, nonlinear optics is described along with the piexo-optics, magneto-optics, and analogous linear and nonlinear acoustic wave phenomena. Enantiomorphism, optical activity, and chemical anisotropy are discussed in the final chapters of the book.

Written in a clear and understandable manner, this book provides a comprehensive, yet non-mathematical, treatment of the topic, covering the basic principles of symmetry and the important spectroscopic techniques used to probe molecular structure. The chapters are extensively illustrated and deal with such topics as symmetry elements, operations and descriptors, symmetry guidelines, high-fidelity pseudosymmetry, crystallographic symmetry, molecular gears, and experimental techniques, including X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy. As an additional feature, 3D animations of most of the structures and molecules covered are available online at wiley.com. As a result, chemists learn how to understand and predict molecular structures and reactivity. Authored by a renowned expert with numerous publications and an excellent track record in research and teaching, this is a useful source for graduate students and researchers working in the field of organic synthesis, physical chemistry, biochemistry, and crystallography, while equally serving as supplementary reading for courses on stereochemistry, organic synthesis, or crystallography.