Allen and Thomas offer a concise approach to teaching and learning the structure of materials. Their presentation is consistent with the way future scientists and engineers will need to think about materials in order to select, design, and use materials to their best advantage.

This text focuses on three different states of condensed matter—glasses, crystals, and liquid crystals—and is developed through the same set of tools, describing all three states.

This text is suitable for an undergraduate or graduate course in materials structure. The text can be used as a main text or as supplemental material.