My 12-year-old granddaughter Nina Alesi once asked me, "Grandpa, you are a scientist at IBM, so what do you do?" I tried to reply, "Oh, I watch atoms move. . . " But before I could finish this sentence, my 7-year-old grandson Vinnie interjected, "Grandpa, do atoms play soccer?" This book is about the games atoms play in diffusion and various other properties of materials. While diffusion has been studied for more than 100 years in solids, its importance, excitement, and intellectual chal lenges remain undiminished with time. It is central to understanding the relationship between the...

My 12-year-old granddaughter Nina Alesi once asked me, "Grandpa, you are a scientist at IBM, so what do you do?" I tried to reply, "Oh, I watch atoms move. . . " But before I could finish this sentence, my 7-year-old grandson Vinnie interjected, "Grandpa, do atoms play soccer?" This book is about the games atoms play in diffusion and various other properties of materials. While diffusion has been studied for more than 100 years in solids, its importance, excitement, and intellectual chal lenges remain undiminished with time. It is central to understanding the relationship between the...