Book excerpt: The fifth edition of this widely acclaimed work has been reissued as part of the Oxford Classic Texts series. The book includes a clear exposition of general topics concerning the structures of solids, and a systematic description of the structural chemistry of elements and their compounds. The book is divided into two parts. Part I deals with a number of general topics, including the properties of polyhedra, the nature and symmetry of repeating patterns, and the ways in which spheres, of the same or different sizes, can be packed together. In Part II the structural chemistry of the elements is described systematically, arranged according to the groups of the Periodic Table.