Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Prologue
- 1 Solo atoms: electrons, nuclei and quanta
- 2 Atomic duets: the chemical bond
- 3 Atoms in concert: states of matter
- 4 Patterns within patterns: perfect crystals
- 5 The inevitable flaw: imperfect crystals
- 6 The great mediator: water
- 7 From mine, quarry and well: minerals
- 8 Almost forever: Ceramics
- 9 Monarchs of the cave: metals
- 10 The busy electron: conductors and insulators
- 11 A mysterious harmony: glass
- 12 To the organic world: carbon
- 13 Strangeness in proportion: liquid crystals
- 14 Of snakes and ladders: polymers
- 15 The vital threads: biopolymers
- 16 The essential bag: the cell
- 17 Mortal coils: the organism
- 18 A place in the Sun: the plant
- 19 Mandatory hunter: the animal
- 20 Enchanted loom: the mind
- Index
4 - Patterns within patterns: perfect crystals
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Prologue
- 1 Solo atoms: electrons, nuclei and quanta
- 2 Atomic duets: the chemical bond
- 3 Atoms in concert: states of matter
- 4 Patterns within patterns: perfect crystals
- 5 The inevitable flaw: imperfect crystals
- 6 The great mediator: water
- 7 From mine, quarry and well: minerals
- 8 Almost forever: Ceramics
- 9 Monarchs of the cave: metals
- 10 The busy electron: conductors and insulators
- 11 A mysterious harmony: glass
- 12 To the organic world: carbon
- 13 Strangeness in proportion: liquid crystals
- 14 Of snakes and ladders: polymers
- 15 The vital threads: biopolymers
- 16 The essential bag: the cell
- 17 Mortal coils: the organism
- 18 A place in the Sun: the plant
- 19 Mandatory hunter: the animal
- 20 Enchanted loom: the mind
- Index
Summary
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Material World , pp. 98 - 115Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008