Product Description

Synthesizing over thirty years of advances into a comprehensive textbook, Biomolecular Crystallography describes the fundamentals, practices, and applications of protein crystallography.  Deftly illustrated in full-color by the author, the text describes mathematical and physical concepts in accessible and accurate language. It distills key concepts for understanding the practice and analysis of protein crystal structures and contains examples of biologically-relevant molecules, complexes, and drug target structures.

Biomolecular Crystallography will be a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students and practitioners in structural biology, crystallography, and structural bioinformatics.

Customer Reviews (1)

Good balance between theory and physical concepts
I had been looking for a good book on crystallography of proteins for a long time. I had looked into Jan Drenth's book - but found it to be too superficial and at best, only a run through guide for last minute preparation for exams. This book is definitely a great one for those who want to understand protein crystallography real well - adequate and clear explanations, quite detailed and thorough and definitely written for a very broad audience. My only complaint is that it is not very heavy on the fundamentals of X-ray diffraction and phase problem analysis. While descriptions might seem to be adequate initially, the math is quite lacking. But then again, I've not yet found good biomolecular crystallography books which explain the physics of the problem any better. I had to opt for a mineral/small molecule crystallography book (by Giacovazzo Fundamentals of Crystallography) for frequent reference and when used together - they seemed to very good and rigorous. Nonetheless I would strongly reccommend this book - probably its the best in the market (related to biomolecules). ... Read more

Product Description
Crystallography Made Crystal Clear makes crystallography accessible to readers who have no prior knowledge of the field or its mathematical basis. This is the most comprehensive and concise reference for beginning Macromolecular crystallographers, written by a leading expert in the field.Rhodes' uses visual and geometric models to help readers understand the mathematics that form the basis of x-ray crystallography. He has invested a great deal of time and effort on World Wide Web tools for users of models, including beginning-level tutorials in molecular modeling on personal computers. Rhodes' personal CMCC Home Page also provides access to tools and links to resources discussed in the text. Most significantly, the final chapter introduces the reader to macromolecular modeling on personal computers-featuring SwissPdbViewer, a free, powerful modeling program now available for PC, Power Macintosh, and Unix computers. This updated and expanded new edition uses attractive four-color art, web tool access for further study, and concise language to explain the basis of X-ray crystallography, increasingly vital in today's research labs.

* Helps readers to understand where models come from, so they don't use them blindly and
inappropriately
* Provides many visual and geometric models for understanding a largely mathematical method
* Allows readers to judge whether recently published models are of sufficiently high quality and detail to be useful in their own work
* Allows readers to study macromolecular structure independently and in an open-ended fashion on their own computers, without being limited to textbook or journals illustrations
* Provides access to web tools in a format that will not go out of date. Links will be updated and added as existing resources change location or are added ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Buy "Biomolecular Crystallography"
Buy "Biomolecular Crystallography" instead. This book tries to condense too much information on too few pages. I didn't understand everything in "Biomolecular Crystallography", but the sections that I did understand, are very well written. It's more expensive, but it's a better book, for those that really want to understand crystallography beyond various tutorials on the internet and "Crystallography Made Crystal Clear".

Perfect condition in perfect timing
The book came in very good condition. The delivery took a few more days than I was expecting but it came in enough time for it to be helpful. Overall it was a good purchase for a good price and i'd buy from the seller again.

Clear perhaps, accurate not
While Crystallography made Crystal Clear by Gale Rhodes is certainly easy to read, it oversimplifies things and introduces a few inaccuracies.It falls short to make the student really understand crystallography, which, in my opinion, is not a good thing for a textbook.On the other hand, I have made the experience that, unfortunately, many students are happy with only a superficial knowledge of the basic theory (I have been teaching crystallography for about a decade now) and this book helps with this attitude.

My advice: if you just want to pass the class and don't care about the subject, go with this book.If, however, you really want to understand what crystallography is about, you need to read either the great beginner's book by Werner Massa: Crystal Structure Determination or the more protein crystallography oriented but equally great beginners book by Jenny Glusker and Kenneth Trueblood: Crystal Structure Analysis -- A Primer.Once you have digested the Massa or the Glusker/Trueblood, you can work your way through the book edited by Carmelo Giacovazzo: Fundamentals of Crystallography.

After reading and understanding the Massa or Glusker/Trueblood and the Giacovazzo, you'll be ready to survive a discussion with any crystallographer any time. (What is more: you will enjoy the discussion!)The book by Gale Rhodes, however, will only get you over the exam and you'll miss out on the great fun crystallography can be.

This book saved me
My lab is a crystallography lab.We call this "The Book" and hand it off to clueless new students who're starting to wonder just what exactly they've gotten themselves into and are deathly afraid of getting slaughtered by crystallography questions in their orals.The approach is very qualitative, which might be irritating to some, but bear in mind that many crystallographers are coming in frombiology backgrounds and we just haven't had the mathematical training to grasp the quantitative approach and it's really, really rough to throw the structure factor equation in the face of a first-year grad student with a B.S. in biology (like I was when I began) and expect them to get it.The Book is a way to break it to us gently. If you want to understand what crystallography is and what crystallographers do, this is the book to read.If you want to be an actual crystallographer, this is a good place to start.Not everything a crystallographer needs is here but it's a good lead in to the math and physics and general voodoo involved in macromolecular crystallography.

Crystal Clear
The delivery was prompt and in the item was in an excellent condition ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is the first in the series International Tablesfor Crystallography and treats the symmetries of one-, two-and three-dimensional space groups and point groups in direct space.It contains tables of the 17 plane groups, the 230 space groups andthe 32 crystallographic point groups, complemented by a comprehensivediscussion of symmetry. The theory and use of the tables is alsodescribed in detail. This book is an invaluable reference forcrystallographers and all those who use crystallography and symmetryin their work. The fifth edition of International Tables for CrystallographyVolume A represents an extensive revision of the previous editions,as the plane and space group tables have been newly generated (andchecked) by computer for this edition. The new symbol for the `double'glide plane (e) is now part of the space group symbols for the fivespace groups Nos. 39, 41, 64, 67 and 68. Much of the text has beensubstantially revised and brought up-to-date, and new topics includinga description of the Delaunay reduction, a section on the advancedproperties of lattices and a section on Euclidean normalizers forspecial metrics have been included. ... Read more

Product Description
Can’t get enough of Bök’s books? Well, this first book of Bök’s is back!

Published in 1994, Crystallography was a gem of a book, an instant hit that was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Award. It has been unavailable for an ice age, and Coach House Books is proud to bring it back.

‘Crystallography’ means the study of crystals, but also, taken literally,‘lucid writing.’ The book exists in the intersection of poetry and science, exploring the relationship between language and crystals – looking at language as a crystal, a space in which the chaos of individual parts align to expose a perfect formation of structure. As Bök himself says, ‘a word is a bit of crystal in formation,’ suggesting there is a space in which words, like crystals, can resonate pure form.

Lucid, sparkling, a diamond of a book: Crystallography is a crystal-clear approach to the science of poetry from the author of Eunoia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

If you like words and like sounds, you'll love this
I forget what I paid for it--$12?$16? Something like that. Cheap. It has paragraphs you'll never read anywhere else, using long strings of words that have never before been next to one another. It's a testament to what can be done--because Christian Bok did it--if one goes off in a hole somewhere and focuses, and that's a good lesson any ol' time.
How much is one fantastic, comprehensible, and yet on the surface bizarre sentence worth to you? In entertainment or inspiration or education? I'd say--forme-- a dollar at least, and five at most. Applying that standard, this book is worth hundreds of dollars. I'm no intellectual, and I'm no freak, but I like language and words, and I like this book a lot.

5 star exploration of language; 2 star poetry
This is a fascinating book exploring language through crystallography that fits nicely into the Oupilo experiments.In general the book is accessible - word squares, concrete poems, charts and, yes, some poetry as "commonly understood." The most personal poems are under "Diamonds" which explores the relationship with his father, a diamond cutter.The layout of the poems in this section remains a puzzle to me. As I do Merrill's "The Changing Light at Sandover", I found myself wanting a crib sheet to point out what I felt I was missing of the author's intent.

The linguistic "games" that I found most interesting were the classification of letters by their axis of symmetry and the "dripping line" (think of water dripping from a cave ceiling). (Unfortunately the web removes multiple spaces so it is not easy to give an illustration - just think of fewer and fewer letters falling into the next line, always spelling out meaningful clauses, phrases, words.)

This book is a major tour-de-force of experimental writing.It will get under your skin.You'll read and reread digging deep to find the underlying principles.You may even become obsessed.Or you may read through it quickly dismissing it as a mere experiment.

Best book ever!
I am a geology major and I usually tend to avoid poetry, however, this book is quite an exception. This book took the science of geology and the art of poetry and combined them into a masterpiece. This analysis of these two fields of study is incredible and is a definite must read. ... Read more

Product Description

The proteome remains a mysterious realm. Researchers have determined the structures of only a small fraction of the proteins encoded by the human genome. Crystallography continues to be the primary method used to determine the structures of the remaining unknown proteins. This imaging technique uses the diffraction of X-rays to determine a protein's three-dimensional molecular structure.

Drawing on years of research and teaching experience, Eaton E. Lattman and Patrick J. Loll use clear examples and abundant illustrations to provide a concise and accessible primer on protein crystallography. Discussing the basics of diffraction, the behavior of two- and three-dimensional crystals, phase determination (including MIR and MAD phasing and molecular replacement), the Patterson function, and refinement, Lattman and Loll provide a complete overview of this important technique, illuminated by physical insights.

The crisp writing style and simple illustrations will provide beginner crystallographers with a guide to the process of unraveling protein structure.

Product Description

X-ray crystallography has long been a vital method for studying the structure of proteins and other macromolecules. As the importance of proteins continues to grow, in fields from biochemistry and biophysics to pharmaceutical development and biotechnology, many researchers have found that a knowledge of X-ray diffraction is an indispensable tool. In this new edition of his essential work, Dr. Jan Drenth, recognized internationally for his numerous contributions to crystallographic research, has provided an up-to-date and technically rigorous introduction to the subject.

Principles of Protein X-ray Crystallography provides the theoretical background necessary to understand how the structure of proteins is determined at atomic resolution. It is intended to serve as an introduction for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and established scientists who want to use protein crystallography in their own endeavors, or need to understand the subject in order to critically evaluate the literature. New additions to the book include a section on twinning, an additional chapter on crystal growth and a discussion of single-wavelength anomalous dispersion (SAD).

About the Authors:

Dr. Jan Drenth is a professor emeritus at the Laboratory of Biophysical Chemistry at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

Contributing author Dr. Jeroen R. Mesters Ph.D. is a Senior Research Assistant at the Institute of Biochemistry, University of Luebeck, Germany.

Customer Reviews (4)

Good but not for beginners
I bought this book when I was first learning crystallography as a first year grad student. This book was ok in some parts but most of it was over my head. I could tell it had some great information but I just needed more of a background to understand the information that it offered. There are more basic crystallography textbooks out there I was referred to later by some crystallographers.

Depends on who you are and what you want...
Jan Drenth is an old school protein crystallographer who has seen the evolution of the field right from its inception in the 1950s to the present day. He belongs to the era when Protein Crystallography was dominated by people with serious math and physics skills like Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin, Francis Crick, Max Perutz and John Kendrew. Owing to the lack of good computers in those days, all the calculations had to be done by hand and there was no way you could solve a protein structure if you didn't know what a Fourier Transform was. The situation is very different nowadays where, thanks to computers, even a person who doesn't know how to differentiate a function can solve protein structures.
Understandably, owing to the author's experiences and background, this book is an excellent one for people interested in the real math behind protein crystallography. It is much on the lines of the other classic book by Blundell and Johnson, also crystallographers belonging to the same era as Jan Drenth. It is quite full of mathematics and therefore, is not recommended for biologists or chemists with weak math skills. For such people I would recommend other introductory books on the subject written by Gale Rhodes, David Blow and Alex McPherson. A good approach would be to learn the basics from these intoductory books and 'graduate' to Drenth's book later.

Not Helpful for a introductory class
I used this text book for an introductory graduate class in X-ray Crystallograhy.After taking a semester of X-ray Crystallograhy (which is labeled as a Chemistry and Biochemistry course), I can say that the material is mainly based on physics and mathematics.I can't say that this text helped a great deal for my course.The text does not explain relevant points such as Miller indices, symmetry elements, or space groups clearly or in much depth.Instead, it spends too much time explaining concepts mathematically and deriving equations.It also does not contain any relevant practice problems, which are needed to understand Crystallography and practice for exams.

X-ray Crystallography is a very dense subject, and is not a course to take on a whim.I would not reccomend taking a course on Crystallography unless you have a really intense interest in pursuing research in that area.If you are interested in this area, do not buy this text even if it is required for your course.Take a look at Crystallography Made Crystal Clear by Gale Rhodes.That book is much clearer, though also lacks sufficient practice problems.

Best introductory text
Best introductory text for macromolecular xray crystallography. Simple and succinct mathematical explanation of basic concepts. It provides enough background for students to start a research project. ... Read more

Product Description
Crystallography and Crystal Defects Revised Edition A. Kelly, Churchill College, Cambridge, UK G. W. Groves, Exeter College, Oxford, UK and P. Kidd, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, UK The concepts of crystallography are introduced here in such a way that the physical properties of crystals, including their mechanical behaviour, can be better understood and quantified. A unique approach to the treatment of crystals and their defects is taken in that the often separate disciplines of crystallography, tensor analysis, elasticity and dislocation theory are combined in such a way as to equip materials scientists with knowledge of all the basic principles required to interpret data from their experiments. This is a revised and updated version of the widely acclaimed book by Kelly and Groves that was first published nearly thirty years ago. The material remains timely and relevant and the first edition still holds an unrivalled position at the core of the teaching of crystallography and crystal defects today. Undergraduate readers will acquire a rigorous grounding, from first principles, in the crystal classes and the concept of a lattice and its defects and their descriptions using vectors. Researchers will find here all the theorems of crystal structure upon which to base their work and the equations necessary for calculating interplanar spacings, transformation of indices and manipulations involving the stereographic projection and transformations of tensors and matrices. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Thorough coverage, dense sentence structure, poor relation between text and problem sets.
This book is very thorough, and is probably great for review. I had the displeasure of trying to learn the subject matter new from this book. My main issue is that many of the sentences in this book are a paragraph long, and that makes undestanding already complex material exceptionally difficult. Also, the problem sets are much more difficult than they should be. Not to say that the level of rigour is misplaced, once I figured out what the questions were asking for most were very good problems. The issue lies in that the wording of the problems is kind of strange, and it's difficult to understand what is being asked for. There are little or no good examples in the text to prepare one for the problem sets.

A straightforward and rigorous discussion of crystallography and its conventions
As in many of my reviews, it is the earlier addition of this book that is familiar to me--in this case Kelly and Groves, rather than Kelly, Groves, and Kidd.Assuming that this newer addition is not too different from the earlier ones, I would highly recommend this book.This is the book that I always turned to when I wanted to refresh my memory regarding the definition of crystal planes and their associated Miller indices.A complete book like this one is especially important when you need to deal with non-cubic systems.In particular, this book is useful for gaining an understanding of the four index Miller-Bravais indices used for hexagonal crystals.Although Kelly and Groves is not a difficult book to read, its treatment of the subject is sufficiently rigorous to satisfy professional materials scientists. ... Read more

Product Description
The Brief Teaching Edition of International Tables for Crystallography Volume A is a handy and inexpensive tool for researchers and students wishing to familiarize themselves with the use of the space-group tables in Volume A. This condensed, inexpensive version of Volume A consists of:

(i) complete descriptions of the 17 plane groups, useful for the teaching of symmetry;

(ii) 24 selected space-group examples, of varying complexity and distributed over all seven crystal systems;

(iii) those basic text sections of Volume A that are necessary for the understanding and handling of space groups.

This volume is designed for use in classroom teaching, and also serves as a useful laboratory handbook because the 24 examples include most of the frequently occurring space groups, for both organic and inorganic crystals. ... Read more

Product Description

There have been many advances in x-ray crystallography since the production of the third edition of this book, and the authors have endeavoured to introduce a number of them into this new edition. The overall plan of the book has been maintained because we believe that it has been well received in the academic community, but substantial revisions have been carried out and new material and chapters added. In particular, we have extended the discussion of the theory of x-ray diffraction and added new chapters on structure determination from powder data, on macromolecular crystallography, and on computational procedures in x-ray crystallography. We consider that x-ray crystallography is a universal tool for studying molecular structure, a view upheld by the pioneers in the subject, notably W.H. & W.L. Bragg, J. D. Bernal, Dorothy Hodgkin (née Crowfoot), Kathleen Lonsdale (née Yardley), and Linus Pauling, so that the broadening of the scope of the text in this way is fully justified.

We have maintained the practice of devising problems to illustrate the work of each chapter, and have provided detailed, tutorial solutions. The appendices contain mostly mathematical procedures related to the material of the main text.

This edition is accompanied by a suite of computer programs on a compact disc. The programs enable the reader to participate fully in many of the aspects of x-ray crystallography discussed in the book. In particular, the program system XRAY* is interactive, and enables the reader to follow through, at the monitor screen, the computational techniques involved in single-crystal structure determination, albeit in two dimensions. Several sets of x-ray data are provided for practice with this system.

Product Description
As a self-study guide, course primer or teaching aid, Borchardt-Ott's Crystallography is the perfect textbook for students and teachers alike. In fact, it can be used by crystallographers, chemists, mineralogists, geologists and physicists. Based on the author's more than 25 years of teaching experience, the book has numerous line drawings designed especially for the text and a large number of exercises - with solutions - at the end of each chapter. This 2nd edition is the translation of the fifth German edition. The heart of the book is firmly fixed in geometrical crystallography. It is from the concept of the space lattice ... Read more

Product Description
Blending rigorous presentation with ease of reading, this self-contained textbook covers the fundamentals of crystallography, symmetry and diffraction to several classes of materials. The first half of the book is a systematic treatment of the basics of crystallography, discussing bonding, crystal systems, symmetry, point groups and concepts of diffraction. The latter half is more advanced in scope, applying structural determination methods to the study of a broad range of materials, including metallic, ceramic, covalent, amorphous, molecular solids and nanomaterials. Throughout the text, mathematical theory and abstraction is complemented by a highly visual approach, allowing the reader to fully comprehend crystal structure. With over 430 illustrations, 400 homework problems and crystal structure files, this is suitable for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses on crystallography within materials science and engineering. Additional resources for this title including solutions for instructors, data files for crystal structures, and appendices, are available at www.cambridge.org/9780521651516. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A light introduction to crystallography
The book is a light introduction to crystallography - meaning it does not assume much background (it even goes to the point of explaining the concept of the dot product!). The short size of the chapters (~10-15 pages each), and the large amount of space dedicated to explaining even the simplest concepts makes the book not only easy but readable.

Still, it is a thorough introduction to crystallography. The book has been clearly written for undergrads who've just been introduced to the concepts of linear algebra and calculus (hence it is careful not to rush the mathematics), but because it is thorough and clear it's gotta work well for graduates as well - especially for those coming from non-MSE fields (e.g. Physics).

I give it high stars for clear and comprehensive presentation of the material. But I'm used to books like Kittel's "Thermal Physics" and "Solid State Physics, or Griffiths "Introduction to Electrodynamics" - which were not only comprehensive and rigorous, but required you to work as hard as the author - Kittel and Griffith didn't give you *everything*, and required that you think hard to understand the material.

But de Graef gives everything to you - you won't find yourself tearing your hair out trying to understand the material. Sure you learn, and even the lazy will do well - but, the real value of an education is that it makes you good at figuring out hard concepts on your own. de Graef's book just *doesn't* do this. It'll give you a lot of new knowledge, but it won't exercise your analytical abilities that much unless your perhaps a sophomore.

Great
The price was great, the book was in great condition and it arrived just on time. i was very pleased. i would recommend to anyone

Early revision; Needs work
We're using this text in a graduate-level course on material structures.The book is generally well organized but there are few worked examples, especially in the later chapters. There are also minor, but noticeable, gaps and omissions in the explanations.

Throughout the book the author is fond of statements to the effect of 'and by inspection of the diagram it is obvious that...', where in-fact it is not obvious how to make that conclusion from the diagram or table.For example, the chapter on stereographic projections is mostly high-level explanation and little time is devoted to operations that one can actually perform using them.

The chapters on direct and reciprocal space are long in derivation, short in conclusions. More worked examples in these chapters would remedy this problem.And end-of-chapter summary of the most important relationships derived in the chapter would also be useful.

Overall, this book is a great reference, but needs more worked examplesand explanations of key relationships to be an effective course textbook.

Excellent text -- thorough, descriptive, and authoritative
I had the pleasure of using an earlier review copy of this text in one of Professor McHenry's crystallography classes. His profound crystallographic knowledge and understanding of students translate well to the text, which I can easily say is one of the best books I've read on crystal structure.

The book goes through the mathematical and historical background of crystallography, progressing from the simple to the complex. The first half of the book describes general crystal systems, symmetry operations, and how to describe crystal properties mathematically. In the second portion of the book he describes in detail many crystal systems, ranging from layered superconducting oxides to molecular solids. This approach worked particularly well for me, since I first learned the basics and then how to apply them to real-world systems.

I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to any student looking for a deep, thorough treatment of crystallography. Professors McHenry and DeGraef have managed to craft a thorough but completely readable text that is sure to become a standard for future materials science students. ... Read more

Product Description
Clear, concise explanation of the logical development of basic crystallographic concepts. Extensive discussion of crystals and lattices, symmetry, crystal systems and geometry, x-ray diffraction, determination of atomic positions and more. Well-chosen selection of problems, with answers. Ideal for a course in crystallography or as a supplement to physical chemistry courses. "This is truly a delightful monograph"—Canadian Chemical Education. 1969 edition. 114 illustrations.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great intro to crystallography for material scientists
This book is an excellent introduction to crystallography.If you aren't interested in group theory, which most material scientists aren't, this is the book for you.The book covers the international crystallography notation well, describes some x-ray diffraction and reciprocal lattice topics, and overall conveyed the topics better than some professors can.

For the price, I highly recommend picking this up!

230 reasons to buy this book
Together with Group Theory and Chemistry this book makes a good guide to the world of chemical,and geological crystals. Crystalography has a very bad notation problem between Schoenflies symbols for point groups and Hermann-Mauguin symbols for space groups ( and several other types of notation that are used like Miller indices). A basic grounding in symmetry groups used in point groups helps to understand the unit cell symmetries used in space groups. Both of these books fails in the larger Mathematical picture of Lie algebras for two and three dimensions. One can't reward a book or author for making his students intellectual cripples when faced with the more general mathematical groups.

A great book for beginners !
This book is definitely a good starting point to learn Crystallography. As a matter of fact the title is in my opinion a little misleading since the book really introduces the reader to X-ray Crystallography... The bookstarts with a concise yet elementary discussion of crystal lattices, pointgroups and space groups. The chapters are nicely woven together so that thereader easily develops a sense of continuity as the the concepts areintroduced. Principles of diffraction phenomena and determination of atomicpositions are very densely discussed. However the treatment is"crystal" clear and no vital detailsare ignored for the sake of"simplicity". The overall treatment is very elementary andrequires an extremely modest amount of mathematical background. Fourierseries a briefly introduced in the discussion of electron density andstructure factors in an effective manner. The effect of glide planes andscrew axes on the structure factor (systematic absences) are elegantlydescribed in the examples. I wish D. Sands would have written an longerbook and have included more material in structure determination as well aspowder diffractometry itself (that's why the books is rated 4 stars only).He certainly has the ability to effectively get the points acrossthroughout his book in a elegant fashion making the book easily readable.The book is ideally suited for those who would like to make their firststeps into X-ray crystallography. In addition, the price is so right (as isthe case with all Dover Series) you can not go wrong. I highly recommendit. ... Read more

Product Description
The first textbook for teaching this method to users with little mathematical background logically presents the theory and fundamentals in an easily comprehensible, self-contained way.
The result is a must-have for advanced undergraduate students, as well as masters and graduate students and other users of single-crystal X-ray crystallography from many various disciplines.
... Read more

Product Description
This book is devoted to the theme of crystallographic studies at high pressure, with emphasis on the phenomena characteristic to the compressed state of matter, as well as experimental and theoretical techniques, used to study these phenomena. As a thermodynamic parameter, pressure is remarkable in many ways. It spans in the visible universe over sixty orders of magnitude, from the non-equilibrium pressure of hydrogen in intergalactic space, to the kind of pressure encountered within neutron stars. In laboratory, it provides unique possibility to control structure and properties of materials, dramatically alter electronic properties, break existing, or form new chemical bonds. This agenda naturally encompasses elements of physics (properties, structure and transformations), chemistry (reactions, transport), materials science (new materials) and engineering (mechanical properties); in addition it has direct applications and implications for geology (minerals in deep Earth environments), planetary sciences, biology and medicine (deep sea ecosystems, membranes, protein and nucleic acid folding, origins of life, deactivation of viruses and toxins). Beyond its specificity, high-pressure science finds direct or indirect (e.g. economic) applications in several fields of modern technology, such as mechanical engineering, optoelectronics and spintronics, nanotechnology, pharmaceutical industry and food processing. ... Read more

Product Description
This book provides a clear introduction to topics which are essential to students in a wide range of scientific disciplines but which are otherwise only covered in specialised and mathematically detailed texts. It shows how crystal structures may be built up from simple ideas of atomic packing and co-ordination, it develops the concepts of crystal symmetry, point and space groups by way of two dimensional examples of patterns and tilings, it explains the concept of the reciprocal lattice in simple terms and shows its importance in an understanding of light, X-ray and electron diffraction. Practical examples of the applications of these techniques are described and also the importance of diffraction in the performance of optical instruments.

The book is also of value to the general reader since it shows, by biographical and historical references, how the subject has developed and thereby indicates some of the excitement of scientific discovery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not bad
This book representsa fair introduction to the world of crystallography and crystal structure determination. The chapters on structure determination are the best, although some of the more advanced material, e.g. EBSD, is lightly sketched, and should perhaps have been omitted.

The early chapters are somewhat more problematic: much is stated about crystal structures without justification, and this makes for a hard and often unilluminating read. Overall, though, the author has succeeding in writing a reasonable introductory text for a difficult field.

basic crystallography
An excellent basic textook on crystallography, which is a absolutely necessary discipline for everybody concerned with the solid state and encompassing disciplines such as materials science, metallurgy, solid state physics, inorganic and organic chemistry, macromolecular biochemistry, mineralogy and petrology, etc. The textbook represents a solid introduction to the field and a nice primer to be used in introductory courses. It is to be followed by the more complete "Fundamentals of Crystallography" by C. Giacovazzo and co-authors. ... Read more

Product Description
X-ray crystallography provides a unique opportunity to study the arrangement of atoms in a molecule. This book’s modern computer-graphics centered approach facilitates the extrapolation of these valuable observations.

A unified treatment of crystal systems, the book explains how atoms are arranged in crystals using the metric matrix. Featuring two model crystal examples, the text develops theoretical concepts to point and space groups in two dimensions and then extends these ideas to three dimensions.

The book interprets the International Tables for Crystallography to bridge the gap between the crystallographic literature and spatial interatomic relationships. Numerous computer-based exercises are integrated throughout the book, with MATLAB^® starter programs that help reduce the minutiae of programming. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great textbook
This is an excellent textbook--and I emphasize that it is a textbook, rather than a reference book (translation:"information dump") that you might use as a textbook if you hate your students.What's more, nobody can really understand crystallography until they've done some of the math.MatLab is a perfect choice for allowing students to explore crystallographic concepts both mathematically and visually without too much programming.Prof. Julian's starter programs are excellent for making it even less painful for students.A lot of thought went into this book.

Highly recommended, very nice book
I am a Materials Scientist and Electron Microscopist. This is one of the best Crystallography books that are suitable for students and scientists from materials science field. The book covers everything that you need to know about the "Foundations" of Crystallography-lattice, mathematical base, symmetry, point groups, Bravais lattices, reciprocal lattice, international Table for Crystallography, X-ray, as well as how the contents of the unit cell influence the intensity of the diffraction maxima.

Most importantly, the material in the book is given in a logical order with the goal of understanding not only how atoms are arranged in crystals, but also how crystal systems are related to each other.

Indeed, this is a book treating crystallography from a top-down approach-from general to specific. The book manages to convey the theoretical conceptual beauty and its relevance to practice effectively and uses a lot of diagrams to make complicate concepts easy to understand. If you are interested in crystal and crystallography, you will fall in love with this book, which is very nicely written.

Excellent text for fundamental understanding of crystallography
I strongly recommend Prof. Julian's text to anyone interested in a basic understanding of crystallography.The book is very accessible to many levels and types of students interested in symmetry, crystallography, and x-ray analysis.Most crystallography books are loaded with mathematical representations of symmetry, which leaves many students whom lack mathematical vision at a loss of the basic concepts.I believe her method of mixing pertinent pictures and computer simulations with direct explanations allows the readers to form a visual concept foundation within their own minds before dredging through the thicker mathematics.For instance, Prof. Julian displays pictures and motifs of regular patterns (like that seen in nature) throughout the book to describe point and space groups, and then later relates the same symmetry described to the periodicity of atoms.Another positive note to the text is the description and explanation of reciprocal lattice. As stated in the book, reciprocal lattice is essential to crystallography.This topic is very abstract and always confusing to students (and even scientists, myself included).Prof. Julian's explanation and examples provides one of the better explanations of the relationship between direct and reciprocal lattice space.Besides the content of the text, the organization of the text provides a systematic process for the student to be introduced and reminded of the subject matter throughout each chapter.This is successfully achieved through the presentation of learning objectives at the start of each chapter, highlighted definitions throughout the chapter, example problems (with solutions), and a definition list at the end of each chapter.

I believe Prof. Julian achieved her intended goal to "communicate an understanding" of the basic relationship between symmetry and atom arrangement in any crystal.This book will be a valuable addition to any student, engineer, or scientists' bookshelf.

wonderful color and engaging narrative
The best introduction to crystallography I know. Wonderful color throughout the whole textbook and engaging narrative makes the subject easy to understand. MATLAB code makes provide immediate application of the theory and engages students into further explorations of the techniques. Useful additional material available through the textbook's Website http://www.foundations-of-crystallography.com/ ... Read more

Product Description
X-ray crystallography has long been a powerful tool in the elucidation of the three-dimensional structures of small molecules and macromolecules. However, despite its power, it is a technically challenging subject that those new to the technique often find daunting.

An ideal primer for students encountering the technique for the first time, Principles of X-ray Crystallography provides a clear, succinct guide to the three-dimensional world of molecules. Featuring a lucid and direct writing style, real-life examples, diagrams, exercises, and activities, this unique text engages students in visualizing three-dimensional structures, rather than overwhelming them with excessive detail.

Author Li-ling Ooi explores both the theoretical principles on which the technique is based and the practice of gathering and analyzing crystallographic data, offering a balanced, well-rounded account of the field. Drawing on valuable teaching experience, Ooi employs a tutorial approach--including self-test exercises and hands-on activities--that leads students through key concepts in a carefully structured and evenly paced manner.

The text encompasses aspects of both small molecule and macromolecular crystallography, highlighting the similarities and differences between the two. A companion website features resources for students--a library of annotated web links and data sets related to topics discussed in the book--and instructors--downloadable figures from the book in electronic format and PowerPoint slide sets for each chapter. ... Read more

Product Description
A complete account of the theory of the diffraction of x-rays by crystals with particular reference to the processes of determining the structures of protein molecules, this book is aimed primarily at structural biologists and biochemists but will also be valuable to those entering the field with a background in physical sciences or chemistry. It may be used at any post-school level, and develops from first principles all relevant mathematics, diffraction and wave theory, assuming no mathematical knowledge beyond integral calculus.

The book covers a host of important topics in the area, including:
- The practical aspects of sample preparation and x-ray data collection, using both laboratory and synchrotron sources
- Data analysis at both theoretical and practical levels
- The important role played by the Patterson function in structure analysis by both molecular replacement and experimental phasing approaches
-Methods for improving the resulting electron density map
- The theoretical basis of methods used in refinement of protein crystal structures
- In-depth explanation of the crucial task of defining the binding sites of ligands and drug molecules
- The complementary roles of other diffraction methods which reveal further detail of great functional importance in a crystal structure. ... Read more

Product Description
Outline of Crystallography for Biologists is intended for researchers and students in the biological sciences who require an insight into the methods of X-ray crystallography without needing to learn all the relevant theory. The main text is purely descriptive and is readable by those with minimal mathematical knowledge. Some mathematical detail is given throughout in boxes, but these can be ignored. Theory is limited to the essentials required to comprehend issues of quality. There is an extensive reference section and suggestions for further reading for those who wish to delve deeper. The first part 'Fundamentals' presents the underlying ideas which allow x-ray structure analysis to be carried out and provides an appropriate background to courses in structural determination. The second part 'Practice' gives more information about the procedures employed in the course of crystal structure determination. The emphasis is on the quality measures of X-ray diffraction analysis to give the reader a critical insight into the quality and accuracy of a structure determination and to enable the reader to appreciate which parts of a structure determination may have caused special difficulty. There is no pretence of completeness and many matters discussed in standard crystallography texts are deliberately omitted. However, issues not brought out in the standard texts are discussed, making it a useful resource for non-practising crystallographers as well. ... Read more