Textbook of structural biology – Second edition
materials. Thus, the book ends on a slightly speculative note: how far is the current state of the art in crystal engineering from being able to design – and produce – the structure of the most thermodynamically stable aggregate of a molecule or solvate crystal? The book is well written and sensitively edited; despite the large number of authors involved, the text flows and one can read consecutive chapters without particularly noticing the change in authorship. The number of illustrations is reasonable, and they are clear and informative. Topical, and up to date, it includes chapters on relatively new techniques and those recently applied to solid-state interactions (molecular beam spectroscopy, SSNMR, charge density methods), as well as on relatively recently recognized and often underreported interactions such as hydrogen–hydrogen bonding and beryllium bonding. Keeping the focus firmly on the interactions that occur in crystalline systems, the editor has ensured that crystal engineering remains the clear goal to work in this area. As he states in the preface, ‘Improving our control of the outcome of crystallization will only be possible after improving our control of the mechanism by which intermolecular interactions compete’. While no one book can provide a complete overview of a field as broad as intermolecular interactions, this text is an essential addition to any library in the field. It works equally well as a book to be read in sequence or as a text to dip into and will augment any collection on supramolecular or crystal chemistry.