Product Description
Many research groups are now attempting to understand how the properties of systems ranging from small molecules to proteins and glasses are determined by the energy landscape. This book provides a self-contained account of energy landscape theory and how it is applied in studies of clusters, biomolecules and glasses. Beautifully illustrated in full color, the volume is geared to graduate students as well as professionals.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 2 reviews)

A unique effort... by O. Burak Okan (Cambridge, MA USA)

5 Stars
February 19, 2006
Potential energy surfaces are instrumental in all aspects of nanoscale phenomena and they are well suited to be treated as a unifying theme for the study of chemical physics. In this respect, this book is unique... The topics it tackles, while interest to many researchers in manifold fields, have never been distilled into a single volume. And this first effort deserves kudos. Each chapter(there are 10 chapters in the whole book)is supported with an exhaustive list of references and is reasonably self contained. Moreover, there is an immediate sense of coherence and the topical flow is rather well laid out. However, it is not a textbook with all that it implies. Wales provides a updated (as of the time of his writing (2003)) account of various topics, but none of them are treated assuming a classroom style. However, the reader is referred to the pertinent literature with valuable remarks as to what is to be found in which particular reference. The proofs to the equations are largely avoided but their origin and the physical implications are given a fair treatment. The required mathematical background to follow the text is rather modest, while the wide spectrum of topics covered curbs its potential as a real page turner for the novice. The illustrations are abound and in color which is a definitive plus. The binding and the paper quality is first class. The typeface is Donald Knuth`s Computer Modern with 11/14pt letter size, and this genuinely alleviates the reading process. My only quibble is the uneven quality of the images permeating the text as some of them have been culled from different sources. I think the book serves its purpose very well and it is a good introductory exposition to a subject with utmost importance in nanoscience. I highly recommend it to anyone whose work involves materials science, chemisty or physics.

Can't get enough by Christian J. Burnham (Texas, United States)

5 Stars
April 11, 2004
Wales must have cloned himself multiple times in order to have found time to have written such a comprehensive book. I'll leave the science for people smarter than I to judge, but I'm giving it 5 stars based on its visual impact alone. I just can't get enough of his beautifully created graphics of undulating potential energy surfaces and cluster rearangement pathways (to name but two examples). Wales is showing us the elegance of his chosen field- and in a way that's simple enough for us dullards to appreciate. I wonder if he's considered a second career in designing topologically interesting furniture, upholstered in only the finest convex polyhedra. This book will no doubt become required reading for those in the molecular simulation community and will be especially ideal for those starting out on their phd's.Minor points: A cursory read has shown a few typographical errors, which should be corrected in future editions. I also found the references at the end of chapters a little unwieldy. It would also have been nice for Wales to have included a bibliography of recommended texts that could be used to take some of the ideas further.

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