Solid State Materials Chemistry. By Patrick M. Woodward, Pavel Karen, John S. O. Evans and Thomas Vogt. Cambridge University Press, 2021. Hardcover. Pp. 708. Price EUR 81.69. ISBN 9780521873253

Solid State Materials Chemistry is a very welcome book written by four of the most renowned solid-state chemists of our time, with undergraduate and graduate chemistry students in mind.This makes the book a unique resource to enter into the complex and fascinating chemistry and physics of matter in the solid state without having to deal with the most complex physical and mathematical details.The book offers intuitive explanations of some of the most complex phenomena of the solid state, relating them to simpler molecular chemistry observations, which are closer to the knowledge of an average chemistry undergraduate or recent graduate.Its fifteen chapters (see details below) cover from the basics of crystal structure and physico-chemical properties of the solid state to many of the most relevant applications that are under development nowadays based on solid materials.Each chapter discusses very didactically one specific topic; this is introduced and intuitively expanded to allow the reader to understand the main concepts, without resorting to detailed mathematical description, unless unavoidable.In order to keep the interest of the reader without perturbing the line of reasoning of the chapters, the text is adorned with short 1-2 page boxes containing details of one specific material (Materials Spotlight), a synthesis procedure (Synthetic Methods), a characterization technique (Characterizations), or a difference between nanoscale and bulk properties (Nanoscale Concepts) where interesting facts related to the chapter are introduced.In addition to the discussed topics, completed with mostly up-to-date references to relevant scientific literature, a section on further reading is provided, for the interested reader to delve deeper into the topics of each chapter.Many of these reading suggestions allow entry into the physical and mathematical details of the topic, avoided in the main text, or into more details of very specific systems.The authors explicitly highlight that students learn by practice; accordingly, each chapter ends with a list of no less than a dozen of problems and exercises that in some cases allow the reader to expand their understanding of topics discussed lightly in the text.Solutions to the problems and digital versions of the figures are also provided online for lecturers to use.The first six of the 15 chapters are devoted to describing basic and general concepts that are used sparingly in the following nine chapters, targeting specific properties of the materials.Chapters 7 to 15 also have a specific introduction where some in-depth discussion is included to allow the reader to catch the essence of the main topic discussed.Appendices A to J expand on some very specific but important ideas such as molecular and crystallographic symmetry, specific nomenclature, bond-valence parameters, magnetic properties and behavior of matter under a magnetic field.Chapter 1 deals with the structure of crystalline materials.It starts by describing translational and rotational symmetry in a periodic crystal in order to later define crystallographic point groups, Bravais lattices and finally space groups.The approach emphasizes the periodic nature of crystals and how this periodicity influences atomic connectivity and ultimately stoichiometry.Crystal structures are grouped based on closest packings and bonding networks; modifications caused by ordering different atomic species or expanding the networks of connected atoms are used to describe binary and ternary compounds.Databases devoted to crystal structures are mentioned.Appendices A and B expand on the Introduction in Chapter 1 with more details on point and space groups, respectively.Unfortunately, the 5th (print)