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Rating: 
Summary: Ralph K. Iler is a scientific genius!!
Review: Ok, I just had to write this review to even out the other one. This literally a whole life's work on silica. It deserves 5 stars, if not more!! Like the Title says, It covers everything: true silica solutions (e.g. monosilicic acid); polymerisation of silica networks; colloidal aggregation (gel formation); surface chemistry (Si-OH bonding), etc. The most relevant section to me was the colloidal aggregation and silanol groups, since my PhD is on opal. But it definitely won't take the place of the appropriate scientific journal articles to your specific field of study. Consider it a damn good intro to silicate chemistry. The whole book is easily understood, because there aren't too many formulae (which tend to cause discontinuities in texts). Just the information that you need on silica. It has loads of figures (for example: effect of pH or temperature on gel formation), and you will often see them reprinted in various science papers - even today (they're that good). It isn't one of those symposium-type books; this is the only book of its kind. The only thing is the price. If you want your very own copy, you'll have to cough up [a lot of money]. Let's face it, if you're researching silica: you're going to need this book. Either you'll have to allocate some of your research fund, or you might consider borrowing it from your local library.
Rating: 
Summary: A Classic
Review: This book has 7 chapters, and is an update of the 1955 edition. It is a comprehensive overview of inorganic silica chemistry up until 1979 and is full of information; each chapter has 200 to 400 references (5*). However, I have always been mystified by the organization of the material within the chapters, and have never found this to be an easy book to use to find information quickly (1*). However, because of its comprehensiveness, it is a necessary book for anyone who practices inorganic silica chemistry. (It's the ONLY book of its type! 20 years, and no competition! Another update is sorely needed) A complementary, more modern book on silica chemistry is the "Better Ceramics through Chemistry - Sol-Gel Silica" compilation by Brinker and Scherer. Both of these books are geared towards researchers, rather than use as texts.
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