This volume marks the transition of Frederick Seitz’s role in this publication
from that of active coeditor to founding editor.
Seitz’s treatise on “The Modern Theory of Solids,” published in 1940,
played a major, perhaps the major, part in distinguishing and delineating
the then fledgling discipline of solid state physics. It became a prime source
of instruction and inspiration to a whole generation of solid state scientists.
As the field grew and flourished following World War 11, Seitz felt a pressing
need to revise and expand the treatise. However, it seemed that the scope and
magnitude of the task required had become too large for any one person to
encompass in a single volume. Paraphrasing remarks in his biographical
notes [see “The Beginnings of Solid State Physics” (N. F. Mott, ed.), Proc.
R. SOC. London, Ser. A 371, 84-99 (1980)], this situation contrasted sharply
with that in the 1930s, when the total volume ofexperimental and theoretical
literature dealing with the properties of solids was sufficiently limited that
it was possible to become familiar with essentially every significant paper in
the areas covered in”The Modern Theory of Solids.” Faced with the new
situation, he concluded that the need for coverage might better be met by a
multivolume work consisting of comprehensive and in-depth treatments of
basic topics by a number of experts, and one of us (D.T.) accepted his invitation
to join in the planning and editing of such a series. The late Kurt Jacoby,
then vice president of Academic Press and a former Akademische-Verlag
editor and refugee from Germany, enthusiastically encouraged the project
and arranged to have the volumes published by Academic Press, beginning
in 1955. Later, in 1967, the other ofus (H.E.) accepted an invitation to share
in the editorial responsibilities.