TheFascinationofCrystalsandSymmetry

Bookrecommendations

Wecanrecommendacoupleofbooksrangingfromveryrichillustratedtohighlyabstractand
mathematical:
(1)VisualSymmetrybyMagdolnaHargittaiandIstvanHargitta

Manymany(beautiful)pictures,lesssometimestoolittletext,butreallyenjoyable.

(2)SymmetrybyHermannWeyl.
Arealclassicalbookonthetheme,focusedonthestudyofsymmetrybyshowingitspresence
inartandnature.

(3)M.C.Escher:VisionsofSymmetrybyDorisSchnattschneider.
AveryindepthexaminationofEsher'swork,includingthemathematicsbehindhissymmetries.

(4)SymmetryofCrystalsandMoleculesbyMarkLadd

Itprovidesacomprehensivestudyofthesymmetryandgeometryofcrystalsandmolecules,
startingfromfirstprinciples.Thepreknowledgeassumedismathematicsandphysicalscience
toaboutAlevel.

Verymanyproblemsforeachchapterareprovided,withfullyworkedtutorialsolutions.

(5)AnIntroductiontoMineralSciencesbyAndrewPutnis

Thisbookisoftenrecommendedtostudentsofmineralogyandgeology.Idonotknowityet,but
isalreadyonmyamazonwishlist:)

Textfromamazon:

Theconceptsrequiredtounderstandmineralbehaviourareoftencomplex,butarepresented
hereinsimple,nonmathematicaltermsforundergraduatemineralogystudents.After
introductorychaptersdescribingtheprinciplesofdiffraction,imagingandthespectroscopic
methodsusedtostudyminerals,thestructureandbehaviourofthemaingroupsofrockforming
mineralsarecovered,andtheroleofdefectsinthedeformationandtransformationofamineral
areexplained.Theenergychangesandtherateoftransformationprocessesareintroduced
usingadescriptiveapproachratherthanattemptingacompleteandrigoroustreatmentofthe
thermodynamicsandkinetics.Examplesandcasehistoriesfromarangeofmineralgroupsare
setinanearthsciencecontext,suchthattheemphasisofthisbookistoallowthestudentto
developanintuitiveunderstandingofthestructuralprinciplescontrollingthebehaviourof
minerals.

(6)SymmetryinCrystallography:UnderstandingtheInternationalTablesbyPaoloG.
Radaelli

CoveringthetopicsofUnit4.45.2ofthiscourseaswellasthethingsweleftout(Xray
diffractometry,reflectionconditionsetc.)

(7)StructureofMaterials:AnIntroductiontoCrystallography,DiffractionandSymmetry,
byMarcDeGraefandMichaelE.McHenry.
TextfromAmazon:
Coversthefundamentalsofcrystallographyandsymmetry,applyingtheseconceptstoalarge
rangeofmaterials.Newtothiseditionaremorestreamlinedcoverageofcrystallography,
additionalcoverageofmagneticpointgroupsymmetryandupdatedmaterialonextraterrestrial
mineralsandrocks.Newexercisesattheendofchapters,plusover500additionalexercises
availableonline,allowstudentstochecktheirunderstandingofkeyconceptsandputinto
practicewhattheyhavelearnt.Over400illustrationswithinthetexthelpstudentsvisualise
crystalstructuresandmoreabstractmathematicalobjects,supportingmoredifficulttopicslike
pointgroupsymmetries.Historicalandbiographicalsectionsaddcolourandinterestbygivingan
insightintothosewhohavecontributedsignificantlytothefield.Supplementaryonlinematerial
includespasswordprotectedsolutions,over100crystalstructuredatafiles,andPowerpointsof
figuresfromthebook.

(8)Crystallography:AnIntroductionbyWalterBorchardtOtt

Apartfromsometopicsthatarenotneededbychemists(stereographicprojections,Wulffnets)
Ilikethisbookverymuchandcanreallyrecommendthis.Veryclearillustrations.

(9)SpaceGroupsforSolidStateScientistsbyMichaelGlazerandGeraldBurns
Verygood,veryreadable,itcoversmanystructurepropertyrelationships,andiswrittenpartlyin
thenotionofUnit5.2to5.5ofourcourse.Butcontains,ofcourse,alotmore!

(10)BasicConceptsofCrystallographybyEmilZolotoyabko

Verygoodillustrations,veryprecisemathematicalformulations,althoughnottohardtofollow
withsomemathematicalbackground.

(11)SymmetryRelationshipsbetweenCrystalStructures:Applicationsof
CrystallographicGroupTheoryinCrystalChemistrybyUlrichMller.
Brnighausentrees,groupsubgrouprelationships,andindepthgrouptheoryIthinkonlysuited
forthespecialists:)

(12)FundamentalsofCrystallographybyCarmeloGiacovazzo,HugoLuisMonaco,
GilbertoArtioli,DavideViterbo,MarcoMilanesio,GastoneGilli,PaolaGilli,Giuseppe
Zanotti,GiovanniFerraris

~900pagesforthestudentwhowantstoknoweverything:)