Going further
Most 'introductory' materials science textbooks will cover the basic material in this package. The following resources cover the subjects in more detail than this teaching and learning package, and may prove useful to the interested student.
Books
Introduction to Mineral Sciences by Putnis (Cambridge University Press, 1992)
Provides a mineral-based treatment of many of the topics introduced in this package. Of particular interest:
Chapter 1 on Periodicity and Symmetry
Chapter 2 on Anisotropy and Optical Properties, including the phenomenon of birefringence
Chapter 5 on Crystal Structures
Chapter 7 on Defects in Minerals
The Structure of Materials by Allen and Thomas (Wiley, 1999)
Gives a thorough mathematical treatment of the noncrystalline and crystalline states (chapters 2 and 3).
Websites
- Steffen Weber's homepage
Contains java-based applets that allow the structure of common polyhedra and crystals to be explored. - Crystallography and Minerals Arranged by Crystal Form
A library of 'crystal forms' - the shapes adopted by natural crystals. Contains Java applets. - Molecular Expressions:
Optical Birefringence
An excellent tutorial on birefringence. Contains Java applets.
Other resources
The MATTER Project's 'Materials Science on CD-ROM' includes modules on:
Introduction to Crystallography (including Miller Indices etc.)
Introduction to Point Defects
Dislocations