Energy Landscapes : Applications to Clusters, Biomolecules and Glasses (Cambridge Molecular Science)

Rating:
Summary: Can't get enough
Review: Wales must have cloned himself multiple times in order to have found time to have written such a comprehensive book. I'll leave the science for people smarter than I to judge, but I'm giving it 5 stars based on its visual impact alone. I just can't get enough of his beautifully created graphics of undulating potential energy surfaces and cluster rearangement pathways (to name but two examples). Wales is showing us the elegance of his chosen field- and in a way that's simple enough for us dullards to appreciate. I wonder if he's considered a second career in designing topologically interesting furniture, upholstered in only the finest convex polyhedra. This book will no doubt become required reading for those in the molecular simulation community and will be especially ideal for those starting out on their phd's.

Minor points: A cursory read has shown a few typographical errors, which should be corrected in future editions. I also found the references at the end of chapters a little unwieldy. It would also have been nice for Wales to have included a bibliography of recommended texts that could be used to take some of the ideas further.

Rating:
Summary: Can't get enough
Review: Wales must have cloned himself multiple times in order to have found time to have written such a comprehensive book. I'll leave the science for people smarter than I to judge, but I'm giving it 5 stars based on its visual impact alone. I just can't get enough of his beautifully created graphics of undulating potential energy surfaces and cluster rearangement pathways (to name but two examples). Wales is showing us the elegance of his chosen field- and in a way that's simple enough for us dullards to appreciate. I wonder if he's considered a second career in designing topologically interesting furniture, upholstered in only the finest convex polyhedra. This book will no doubt become required reading for those in the molecular simulation community and will be especially ideal for those starting out on their phd's.

Minor points: A cursory read has shown a few typographical errors, which should be corrected in future editions. I also found the references at the end of chapters a little unwieldy. It would also have been nice for Wales to have included a bibliography of recommended texts that could be used to take some of the ideas further.