Book Review (1) - The Physics of ice
Title: The Physics of Ice
Author: V. F. Petrenko and R. W. Whitworth
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1999
ISBN 0-19-851895-1 hardback £70 384 pages 16 halftones, 156 line figures
Ice is an important material, both for the role it plays in our everyday lives and for a wide range of science. Despite its molecular simplicity, it forms at least 13 crystalline phases and possesses some unusual and fascinating properties. 'The Physics of Ice' sets out to explain these properties in terms of their causes at the molecular level and it achieves its aim admirably. The 320 pages of text form a concise but complete reference book on the topic, suitable for all those whose research impinges on any aspect of ice physics. Clear explanations, aided by useful diagrams and tables of data, cover the main topics, with sufficient references to more esoteric areas.
The introductory chapter starts by reminding us of the range of areas in which ice is important, a topic which is picked up later in a fascinating chapter on ice as it occurs in various natural situations. It then provides a starting point for the newcomer to the area, with sections on the free water molecule and the hydrogen bond. The book commences in earnest in chapter 2, which covers the normal form of ice, ice Ih. Methods for sample growth, the effect of the hydrogen disorder on the entropy and lattice energy calculations are all clearly covered; the heart of the chapter is a detailed review of the basic crystallography of the material, covering both average and actual structural information. Chapter 3 is the first introduction to the macroscopic, presenting data on the elastic and thermal properties of ice. The chapter also contains a large section on lattice vibrations in ice, covering infrared, Raman and inelastic neutron studies. The recent controversy over the interpretation of the peaks in the translational band is covered in a fair and unbiased manner. Chapters 3 to 6 deal with the different point defects which occur in ice, leading to a discussion of the related electrical and diffusional properties. Chapter 7 extends this by dealing with the topic of dislocations and planar defects. Other chapters cover the mechanical, optical, electronic, surface, adhesion and frictional properties of ice. Of great interest to the crystallographic community, chapter 11 contains an up-to-date review of the high pressure and low temperature phases of ice, including updated phase diagrams and a very helpful one-page summary table. The chapter also looks at the related structures of the amorphous ices and the clathrate hydrates.
A new text book on the Physics of Ice has long been overdue - the previous classic of Hobbs being published in 1974 - and this book admirably fills that role. The careful scholarship and complementary expertise of the two authors have combined to produce a useful addition to every library and many personal collections. This book provides much for the ice specialist, the newcomer to the field and those seeking any information about this amazing material.
Hobbs, P. V., (1974). Ice Physics. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Dr V M Nield
Editor's Note: I am trying to set up a BCA web page for the structure of ice. I am most grateful to Vicky for providing the material which she used in helping John Finney to explain the new form of ice to visitors at the Royal Society exhibition in 1998. Further suggestions for additions to this page would be most welcome.
Book Review (2) -
Title: The Diamond Makers
Author: Robert M.Hazen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1999
a new and heavily revised edition of 'The New Alchemists' 1994
ISBN 0 521 65474 2 paperback £9.95 244 pages 8 page index
Robert Hazen is a Professor of Earth Sciences at George Mason University in the United States; he is fascinated by the mechanism of the production of natural diamonds and hopes that understanding the creation of synthetic ones will lead him to an understanding of the formation of the natural ones. His last sentence of this book is: "For us, science remains the greatest adventure of all". You can imagine his horror when his son, at the age of about 12, came home from a particularly boring textbook science lesson and said "Why would anyone want to be a scientist?". This book is the author's attempt to answer that question by writing an entertaining account of the history of diamond synthesis.
BCA members can probably skip the introductory chapter, entitled continuing throughout the growth in chemical knowledge in the nineteenth century; they started from graphite as the raw material and were all failures. There are stories of 'helpful' technicians who were so sorry for their employer whose attempts always came to nothing that they hid a few natural diamonds in the equipment for him to find. This leads to the interesting question of how to decide whether or not the minute crystals left in the apparatus are diamond, a task for a crystallographer, who may use X-rays to find the structure or topography to look closely at the surface. We learn of other 'inventors' who were prosecuted for fraud when their 'synthetic diamonds' were found to have scratches on them showing they were natural diamonds found in alluvial gravels. Diamonds have been valued as jewels for hundreds of years; a whole industry has grown up to market the natural diamonds. To enhance their sparkle as jewels diamonds are cut in geometric patterns; the cutting produces industrially useful splinters, used, for example, in dies to draw out fine wires for electric motors. This growing need for industrial diamonds prompted commercial companies to attempt diamond synthesis, including General Electric in the United States, and ASEA, Sweden's major electrical company. They had the resources to fund the high pressure equipment needed, but the author laments the fact that we may never resolve the controversy over who first synthesised diamond in the 1950s because the research in industrial companies is rarely published immediately. In the chapter 'Secrets' the author explains that some of this reluctance to publish may have been due to uncertainty over whether they really had made diamond and their reluctance to be proved wrong later.
Further chapters cover making diamonds by explosion, by vapour deposition and possible uses of diamond as semiconductors. There are many other tales of the pioneers in the field, including the involvement of Kathleen Lonsdale, who had a newly synthesised form of diamond named after her. I enjoyed this book very much; it is excellent value for money and will make an ideal Christmas present for a crystallographer interested in the history of science or for anyone fascinated by the remarkable structure of diamond.
Kate Crennell
Click here to return to BCA homepage