This Concise Encyclopedia draws its material from the award-winning Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology, and includes updates and revisions not available in the original set. This customized collection of articles provides a handy reference for materials scientists and engineers with an interest in the structure of metals, polymers, ceramics and glasses, biomaterials, wood, paper, and liquid crystals. Materials science and engineering is concerned with the relationship between the properties and structure of materials. In this context "structure" may be defined on the atomic scale in the case of crystalline materials, on the molecular scale (in the case of polymers, for example), or on the microscopic scale. Each of these definitions has been applied in making the present selection of articles.* Brings together articles from the Encyclopedia of Materials: Science & Technology that focus on the structure of materials at the atomic, molecular and microscopic levels, plus recent updates* Every article has been commissioned and written by an internationally recognized expert and provides a concise overview of a particular aspect of the field * Extensive bibliographies, cross-referencing and indexes guide the user to the most relevant reading in the primary literature