The Concise Encyclopedia of the Structure of Materials draws its content from the award-winning Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology, and includes updates and revisions not available in the original set. Materials science and engineering is concerned with the relationship between the properties and structure of materials. In this context "structure" may be defined on the atomic scale in the case of crystalline materials, on the molecular scale (in the case of polymers, for example), or on the microscopic scale. Each of these definitions has been applied in making the present selection of articles. This volume includes eighty articles which deal with metals, polymers, ceramics and glasses, biomaterials, wood and paper, liquid crystals, as well as some more general features. Every article has been commissioned and written by an internationally recognized expert and provides a concise overview of a particular aspect of the field. Extensive bibliographies, cross-referencing and indexes guide the user to the most relevant reading in the primary literature. This customized collection of articles provides a handy reference for postgraduate research students, materials scientists and engineers with an interest in the structure of metals, polymers, ceramics and glasses, biomaterials, wood, paper, and liquid crystals.