No comments about Modern Materials and Manufacturing Processes (3rd Edition).

1 comments about International Tables for Crystallography, Brief Teaching Edition of Volume A: Space Group Symmetry (International Tables for Crystallography).

1. essential for any lab involved with x-ray crystallography. good reference source.

2 comments about Modern Metalworking.

1. Beware if you order this book, that it is a workbook companion to
   the hardcover. It's not clear when you read the description. I
   have no real opinion since I though it was a text and I have no
   need for a workbook, but I had to enter some star rating



2. Amazon.com should read and use input to help improve product info offered.

No comments about Valve Handbook.

No comments about Fundamentals of Pressworking.

4 comments about Electronic Structure: Basic Theory and Practical Methods.

1. This book was recommended to me to help me in my research, and has turned out to be one of the best recommendations I have ever received. This is a great book; by far the best I have come across on the topic of computing the properties of condensed phase materials by quantum mechanical simulations. Here are the reasons why.

   1. The chapters are well laid out and one chapter flows neatly to the next.

   2. The math is kept to a minimum; the author makes a point of communicating important principles and ideas in concise sentences without resorting to derivations. This is ideal for engineers like me; who by training do not know that much math as compared to physicists who specialize in the solid state.

   3. Important ideas are clarified up front. Many texts will lead the reader through long and windy paths of proofs and logic before arriving at the conclusion; thereby losing their reader in the process. Not here; important points are stated clearly at the beginning and at the end of each section.

   4. Compare, contrast, and context. There are many ideas, models, approximations, and theorems that have been developed in the past century related to electronic structure. Many of these are closely related to each other in their inspiration, derivation, practice, and/or applications. This book makes the connections between the different concepts. For a non-expert reading through the electronic structure literature, terms like APW, OPW, PAW, LAPW, LMTO, etc... can be quite confusing if not placed within an overriding context. This book provides that context.

   5. Good use of appendices. Electronic structure is a lot like politics; most practicioners in either field did not receive formal educations in the subject, but instead got into it under the apprenticeship of other people. This is reflected by a lot of literature by those who succeeded in the field; most of it good in showing of the authors' achievements, but generally useless in preparing the next generation of practicioners. For electronic structure, this is manifested by the many books that require prior knowledge of quantum, thermo, crystallography, mat sci, etc.. In effect, these books were written by experts to be read by other experts. Not this book. Basic ideas are kept in the text; and specific proofs and derivations are kept in the appendices. The result is a text that is much easier to read than most others.

   6. The book is concept driven; not application driven. Most texts in materials simulations are actually a compilation of chapters written independently by multiple authors. Each chapter might be given a general title; but the text will be bias towards the research of its authors. For example, a chapter on surface calculations might focus entirely on adsorption, or relaxation/reconstruction, or optical properties; but surely not touching all these subjects. This book does not do this; each chapter is driven by basic concepts, and one concept leads to the next.

   In all, this is a great textbook and a handy reference book. I highly recommend it.




2. Although the topics the book embrasses are current and essential for practising chemists, physisists and materials scientists the pedagogic care with which it explains some of the topics is poor.
   
   The author makes the assumption that the reader is familiarized with the heavy mathematical formalism and notation which is commonplace in specialized physics articles but fails to remember that graduate students that don't have a physics background, and come from other schools of thought such as chemistry, biochemistry or materials science, might be target readers.
   
   For instance the book's introduction to Hartree-Fock theory must be the most complicated I've ever seen with constant recourse to Dirac's delta function (without even revealing its presence, stating simply that it should be there). The link between DFT and statistical thermodynamics although interesting is not essential for the heart of the discussion. Some classic program applications like Siesta are presented but you get the feeling that it's just for show off.
   
   All in all if you're a physicist with some years of experience in the field of planewave computation you might find the book interesting.
   
   Otherwise if you're a beginner like me forget it! The book by Efthimios Kaxiras (Atomic and Electronic Structure of Solids) is more revealing and pedagogic and supplies every detail in the mathematical formalism. Some physicists with a more chemical sensitivity such as Harrison, chemists such as Roald Hoffmann, Jeremy Burdett or Michael Springborg or materials scientists like Adrian Sutton or David Pettifor are better suited for the novice.



3. As a graduate student attempting to learn density functional theory and its use in computer programmes, I have found this book to be an excellent addition to my library. Well structured and written.



4. I like this book and would recommend it to any beginner into density functional theory. It explains all the modern electronic structure techniques in a rather simple language. Its much more easier and quicker than going into hundreds of papers and not knowing where to start.
   
   The biggest issue with this book is a rather poor organisational structure to the book. That's why I've given it a 4/5 rating. There are some concepts that have been easily thrown in at the end, into the appendices.. and having to turn pages too frequently can be annoying.
   
   But the good work has been done & I'd ask Mr Martin to re-organise the content.
   
   This book has the potential to be a classic.

No comments about Coatings Materials and Surface Coatings.

No comments about Evaluating Mineral Projects: Applications and Misconceptions.

2 comments about Foundations of Vacuum Science and Technology (Foundations of Vacuum Science & Technology).

1. This is a very useful book for the people who is interested in Vacuum technoloyies.



2. I have used this book as an undergraduate and graduate student. This is a great book that takes you from the basics to the more advanced technologies. A must have for a lab.

No comments about High Temperature Corrosion and Materials Applications.