Book excerpt: Topics in the Theory of Solid Materials provides a clear and rigorous introduction to a wide selection of topics in solid materials, overlapping traditional courses in both condensed matter physics and materials science and engineering. It introduces both the continuum properties of matter, traditionally the realm of materials science courses, and the quantum mechanical properties that are usually more emphasized in solid state physics courses, and integrates them in a manner that will be of use to students of either subject. The book spans a range of basic and more advanced topics, including stress and strain, wave propagation, thermal properties, surface waves, polarons, phonons, point defects, magnetism, and charge density waves. Topics in the Theory of Solid Materials is eminently suitable for graduates and final-year undergraduates in physics, materials science, and engineering, as well as more advanced researchers in academia and industry studying solid materials.