Piezoelectricity

After World War II, piezoelectric phenomena became extremely important in communications media and were the subject of extensive scientific investigation. This two-volume treatise, written by a major contributor to the field, offers a complete, systematic survey of the physical properties and the practical applications of piezoelectric crystals.

Volume One begins with a seven-chapter examination of the fundamental properties of crystals, including elastic and dielectric characteristics, with modes of vibration and with numerical data. Succeeding chapters lead from thermodynamic principles to various formulations of piezoelectric theory, methods of measurement, and data on a large number of crystals.

Volume One concludes with a discussion of the piezoelectric resonator, a topic that is further explored in Volume Two, along with properties and techniques of quartz, Rochelle salt, ferroelectric crystals, various applications of piezoelectricity, pyroelectricity, optical properties of crystals, and the atomic theory of piezoelectricicty.

About the Author

American physicist and electrical engineer Walter Guyton Cady (1874–1974) was on the faculty of Wesleyan University from 1902–46. He was among the pioneering scientists who studied the phenomenon of piezoelectricity. Derived from the Greek term for "to press," piezoelectricity is the electric charge that accumulates in some solid materials in response to applied mechanical stress. The piezoelectric effect has innumerable real-world applications in science, engineering, and everyday life.