• Introduction ; 1. Experimental methods ; 2. Theoretical methods ; 3. Application of quantum mechanical methods to simple inorganic "molecules" of relevance to mineralogy and to oxide materials ; 4. Applications to silicate, carbonate, and borate minerals and related species ; 5. Application of bonding models to sulfide minerals ; 6. Applications in mineral physics and chemistry ; 7. Applications to geochemical problems ; 8. The future ; Appendix A: Symbols, units, conversion factors, and constants ; Appendix B: Experimental methods for obtaining information on structure and bonding ; Appendix C: Quantum mechanical (and related) calculational methods and terminology ; References ; Index

'This text by Tossell and Vaughan is outstanding and timely. This book provides the first major introduction and review of such advanced geochemical methods and shows how they can be applied to mineralogy. For anybody interested in the way in which geochemistry will evolve in the 21st century, this book is essential reading. The authors are to be congratulated in producing a first-class contribution to literature.'R.J. Price, Mineralogical Society, September 1993