bookreview

Altmann's Band Theory of Solids

Band Theory of Solids: An Introduction from the Point of View of Symmetry Simon L. Altmann Clarendon Press, 1994 This is a fairly esoteric publication. The stated intent was to provide an introductory (I guess suitable for an undergraduate course) book on solid state theory, that none the less contained a strong dose of group theory from the get go. This is an interesting idea, but I’d say that it’s only partially successful.

John Ziman

I’ve learnt more from John Ziman’s books on electronic structure, phonons, and disorder, than from any other single source. This is a little guide to his academic works. 1979 - “Models of disorder”. Though his most recent book, from the printing you would assume it was from the 50s! This is the only real attempt to write a textbook summarising all approaches to disorder in electronic structure modelling. As a pioneer of liquid metals, this was his area of expertise.