Book excerpt: Annotation. The main theme of this highly successful book is that the transmission of energy by wave propogation is fundamental to almost every branch of physics. Therefore, besides giving students a thorough grounding in the theory of waves and vibrations, the book also demonstrates the pattern and unity of a large part of physics. This new edition has been thoroughly revised and has been redeisgned to meet the best contemporary standards. It includes new material on electron waves in solids using the Kronig-Penney model to show how their allowed energies are limited to Brillouin zones, The role of phonons is also discussed. An Optical Transform is used to demonstrate the modern method of lens testing. In the last two chapters the sections on chaos and solitons have been reduced but their essential contents remain. As with earlier editions, the book has a large number of problems together with hints on how to solve them. The Physics of Vibrations and Waves, 6th Edition will prove invaluable for students taking a first full course in the subject across a variety of disciplines particularly physics, engineering and mathematics.