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The chemical bond in inorganic chemistry. The bond valence model. By I.

David Brown. Pp. 278

Article  in  Acta crystallographica. Section A, Foundations of crystallography · June 2007

DOI: 10.1107/S0108767307021344

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book reviews
Acta Crystallographica Section A
Foundations of
book reviews
Crystallography Works intended for this column should be sent direct to the Book-Review Editor, whose address appears in this
issue. All reviews are also available from Crystallography Journals Online, supplemented where possible with
ISSN 0108-7673
direct links to the publisher’s information.

Structure and chemistry of crystalline emphasizes counter-intuitive ‘non-chemical’ Still it seems doubtful whether the price
solids. By B. Douglas and S.-M. Ho. Pp. features of the structure (’Fig. 4.14: The of more than 100 Euros for this book is
X + 346. New York: Springer 2006. Price 2IP structure of hexagonal close-packed appropriate in view of the quality of the
(hardcover) EUR 106.95. ISBN 978-0-387- graphite) for intermetallic compounds or illustrations and a number of editorial
26147-8. covalently bonded solids. shortcomings, although some of these issues
Each of the structure types is discussed in are remedied by the well designed com-
In this monograph, the authors of a its own small subsection, together with a panion CD.
successful textbook on inorganic chemistry figure either taken from the literature (the
Caroline Röhr
present a classification of more than 300 source of which is cited in full length in the
different structure types using a formal figure caption) or produced by the authors University of Freiburg
description of close packing (P) in terms of using the commercial Windows/Macintosh Faculty of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Earth
the degree of filling of tetrahedral (T) and/or program CrystalMaker (which is also cited in Sciences
octahedral (O) interstices. This system, full length in each and every applicable Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry
Hebelstrasse 27
called the PTOT formalism, was originally caption). The omission of a separate bibli-
D-79085 Freiburg i. Br.
presented by the two authors in an article in ography is unfortunate, the more so as the
Germany
J. Chem. Education [(1972), 49, 74–80] discussions often contain references to E-mail: [email protected]
several decades ago and provides a gener- alternative structural descriptions or precice
alization of the concepts commonly used to values of individual lattice constants where a
describe ionic structures to all of inorganic source would have been useful.
solid-state chemistry, together with a In my opinion, the quality of those illus- books received
rigorous nomenclature. trations that were reproduced from the The following books have been received by the Editor.
The book is divided into 12 chapters. literature is not acceptable, especially when Brief and generally uncritical notices are given of
After a short Introduction on historical taking the price of the book into account. works of marginal crystallographic interest; occasion-
aspects of symmetry and crystal chemistry The alternations in quality and design of the ally, a book of fundamental interest is included under
and some very general comments on the figures from one structure to the next also this heading because of difficulty finding a suitable
advantages of the PTOT notation, the make it harder to follow the train of thought reviewer without great delay.
second part briefly introduces very basic in this monograph. The poor figure quality is
aspects of crystallography. In the third somewhat compensated by the CD included The chemical bond in inorganic chem-
chapter, the PTOT system is introduced and in the book, where the concepts of the istry. The bond valence model. By
explained in a clear and understandable PTOT notation are presented in an ani- I. David Brown. Pp. 278. Oxford: Oxford
form. The derivation of its sometimes mated presentation and all structures are University Press, 2006. Price (paperback)
unwieldy notation is also explained in this collected in the form of their respective
GBP 35.00. ISBN 0-19-929881-5.
chapter. In the following chapters 4 to 11, CrystalMaker input files together with a
the 300 reference structures and structure demonstration version of the program for This is the first paperback edition. The bond
types are described and discussed in terms of viewing. valence model is becoming increasingly
the PTOT system, using alternatively geo- Despite the title of this book, its use by popular in fields such as materials science
metrical criteria or classes of solids as the students of material sciences, chemistry, and mineralogy. Unlike other models of
key for subdivision into individual chapters. physics or mineralogy cannot be recom- inorganic bonding, it is simple, intuitive and
Thus chapters called Crystal structures of mended; with the exception of simple metals predictive. Many applications are reviewed.
silica and metal silicates (No. 10) are inter- and ionic crystals, the description of crystal Contents: 1. Historical introduction, 2. The
mixed with titles such as Structures involving structures in terms of close packing and the ionic bond, 3. The bond valence model, 4.
P and O layers (No. 5). The entries for PTOT notation is much too complicated and Anion and cation bonding strengths, 5.
individual structures and compounds are sometimes even confusing from the chemical Liquids, 6. Cation coordination number, 7.
easily accessible via the extensive and well point of view. Nevertheless, the content and Hydrogen bonds, 8. Electronically distorted
organized Subject Index. ideas of the book – especially in conjunction structures, 9. Physical properties of bonds,
As expected, the PTOT formalism works with the material on the companion CD – 10. Space and space groups, 11. Modelling
nicely for primarily ionic compounds such as can be seen as an additional source of inorganic structures, 12. Lattice-induced
NaCl but is tedious to apply to other information for people teaching structural strain, 13. Applications, 14. Chemical impli-
systems, even fairly simple intermetallic chemistry, even if only to see familiar cations of the bond valence model. Appen-
compounds like CaCu5, and sometimes structures from a novel perspective. dices.

374 Acta Cryst. (2007). A63, 374

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