Ebook: The Theory of the Properties of Metals and Alloys

Since the introduction of quantum mechanics the theory of metals has developed rapidly. The first stage of the development led to an understanding of many of the electric and magnetic properties common to all metals. In more recent investigations attempts have been made to explain the differences between individual metals and ~lloys in terms of the properties of their constituent atoms. It is our principal aim in this book to give an account of the properties of individual metals and alloys, and in particular to show how their crystal struct'ure, magnetic susceptibility, and electrical and optical properties are related to one another and to their more chemical properties. For this reason we have given no description of the phenomenon of supraconductivity, since it has not yet proved possible to relate its occurrence to any of the other propetties of the
supraconducting materials. We have also omitted any discussion of the properties of surfaces (thermionic emission, adsorption of gas atoms, work function, etc.), since these phenomena bear only a small relation to the subject-Inatter of the rest of the book.