Understanding Solid State Physics

The second edition of my undergraduate textbook Understanding Solid State Physics was published on 22nd April 2021. Watch my promo vlog about this edition of my book here. 

Copyright: Sharon Ann Holgate 2020

Further information, including the key features and list of contents can be found on the CRC Press webpage, where you can also order a copy

To see some of the associated video content, including a video quiz to test your knowledge of solid state physics, and an interview with one of the researchers at the ITER fusion energy project, please visit the Understanding Solid State Physics playlist on the Taylor & Francis Books YouTube channel.

There is more multimedia content available on the book’s companion website, including additional videos, further reading, flashcard revision aids and audio soundbites.

You can also read more about the first edition and access the original 2009 video quiz. 

Reviews for the First edition:

“The book is written in a very user-friendly and engaging style, as one might expect from a science writer/journalist. This way, the author succeeds in making the material approachable and interesting. The presentation is not as formal as most treatments. The emphasis is less on the theoretical and mathematical basis of the subject and more on the intuitive understanding of ideas and concepts, but the approach is fresh and the explanations are clear. What I like most of all is that it brings solid-state physics up-to-date, introducing modern topics and showing how the core ideas in condensed matter physics underpin so much of the technology we use today.”

Professor Andrew Boothroyd, Oxford University, UK

“I was indeed amused and inspired by the wonderful images throughout the book, carefully selected by the author. These images and corresponding contexts, together with the thoughtful considerations of the difficulties of the freshmen to solid state physics like me, who may find it hard to follow the maths in the classics like Kittel’s or Mermin’s fulfils very well the goal of the author.”

Yang Gan, Harbin Institute of Technology, P.R. China, UK Physical Sciences Centre Reviews, July 2010.

“5 stars for each category – Academic Content, Usefulness to Student, Usefulness to Teacher, Meets Objectives, and Accuracy.”

Summary Review from UK Physical Sciences Centre Reviews, July 2010. 

“I enjoyed reading the book and it is a refreshing approach — it is very up to date and pitched at a good level to engage undergraduates new to the subject. I am happy to recommend this book to my students.”

Dr. Robert H. Hadfield, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland

“Holgate…presents a textbook for an introductory undergraduate course in physics that explains the underlying physical and mathematical principles that most such textbooks, perhaps unwittingly, assume the students already know. She also relates the theories and concepts to the real world, to demonstrate how learning a bit of physics can help people get by in life outside school.”

Annotation © 2010 Book News Inc., Portland, OR.