Making and studying solids is a rapidly expanding branch of chemistry. Solid-state chemistry is becoming more and more important as its relevance is recognized to subjects as diverse as optoelectronics and heterogeneous catalysis. There has long been felt a need for an authoritative account of the properties of inorganic solids and of the methods for studying them, written at a level suitable for final-year undergraduates studying the subject as a special topic or for first-year graduate students embarking on research in the field. This and a forthcoming volume will fill that gap.The present volume - now made available in paperback for the first time - concentrates on methods for preparing solids and studying their structures and physical properties, while the other will survey compounds with particularly important or useful properties.