Crystals: growth, morphology, and perfection

How do crystals nucleate and grow? Why and how do crystals form such a wide variety of morphologies? These questions have been posed since the seventeenth century, and are still vitally important for modern technology and understanding the Earth's interior and formation of minerals by living organisms. Including a range of case studies of complex systems, from diamond, calcite and pyrite to crystals formed through biomineralization, this book establishes the atomic processes behind crystal growth.