Although Born and Huang's classic work on the dynamics of crystal lattices was published over thirty years ago, the book remains the definitive treatment of the subject. It begins with a brief introduction to atomic forces, lattice vibrations and elasticity, and then breaks off into four sections. The first section deals with the general statistical mechanics of ideal lattices, leading to the electric polarizability and to the scattering of light. The second section deals with the properties of long lattice waves, the third with thermal properties, and the fourth with optical properties.

This book presents a discussion of lattice dynamics for perfect and imperfect lattices and their relation to continuum theories of elasticity, piezoelectricity, viscoelasticity and plasticity. Some of the material is rather classical and close in spirit to solid state physics. A major aim here is to present a coherent theory for the four basic behavior types in the style of continuum mechanics. In each case, emphasis is on an explicit display of the physical mechanisms involved rather than general formalisms. The material is presented in terms of an atomistic picture for the discrete system. The basic ideas are believed to be relevant also at an intermediate scale in the continuum description of media with structure such as granular materials and composites.