1 The Chemical Nature of Minerals.- 1.1 Chemical Composition of Minerals. Crystallochemical Constraints and the Nature of Impurities.- 1.2 Treatment of Chemical Composition Data for Minerals.- 1.2.1 Structural Formulae.- 1.2.2 Multivariate Statistical Analysis for Processing Chemical Data of Minerals.- 1.3 The Mineral Composition of the Earth's Crust, Mantle, Meteorites, Moon and Planets.- 2 Crystal Structures of Minerals.- 2.1 General Results of Crystal Structure Analysis of Minerals.- 2.1.1 Stages of Scientific and Technical Development.- 2.1.2 Symmetry Bases. The Contemporary Symmetry Theory in Solids.- 2.1.3 Empirical Relationships in Structural Geometry.- 2.1.4 Systems of Empirical Radii of Atoms and Ions; Orbital and Pseudopotential Radii.- 2.1.5 Representation of Crystal Structures as Packings of Spheres, Coordination Polyhedra, or Nets of Bonds.- 2.1.6 Computer Simulation of Crystal Structures.- 2.1.7 Precision Electron Density Calculations: Relation to Chemical Bonding and to Localization of Impurities in Crystal Structures.- 2.1.8 High-Temperature and High-Pressure Crystal Chemistry.- 2.2 Types of Structural Relations in Minerals.- 2.2.1 Modulated and Incommensurate Structures; Spinodal Unmixing.- 2.2.2 Hybrid Layer Structures, Commensurate and Incommensurate.- 2.2.3 Tunnel-Structure Oxide Minerals.- 2.2.4 Polytypism in Minerals.- 2.2.5 Mixed-Layer Minerals.- 2.2.6 Structural and Magnetic Phase Transitions.- 2.2.7 Poorly Crystallized Minerals.- 2.2.8 The Metamict State.- 2.3 Systematics of Crystal Structures and Crystallochemical Classifications of Minerals.- 2.3.1 Prolegomenon.- 2.3.2 Contemporary Aspects of Classifications.- 2.3.3 Two Approaches Toward Crystallochemical Classification of Minerals and Inorganic Crystals.- 2.3.4 Crystallochemical Classifications of Minerals.- 2.3.5 The Structural Classification of Minerals.- 2.3.6 Counting Theory and Classification of Crystal Structures.- 3 Real Structures of Minerals.- 3.1 Point Defects in Minerals.- 3.2 Direct Imaging of Point Defects by HRTEM.- 3.3 Point Defects and Diffusion in Minerals.- 3.4 Point Defects as Precursors for Electron-Hole Centers: Systematics and Theories of Radiation Centers in Minerals.- 3.5 Structural Types of NonStoichiometry in Minerals.- 3.6 X-Ray Topographic Study of the Real Structure of Minerals.- 3.7 Twinning Due to Phase Transformations and Plastic Deformation.- 4 Natural Glasses.- 4.1 Structure and Properties of Silicate Glasses and Melts; Theories and Experiment.- 4.2 X-Ray Studies of Glass Structure.- 4.3 Terrestrial and Lunar, Volcanic and Impact Glasses, Tektites, and Fulgurites.- 4.4 Nuclear Waste Glasses: Recent Advances in the Spectroscopic Investigation of Their Structure.- 5 Chemical Bonding in Minerals.- 5.1 Survey of Quantum Chemistry and Methods Used to Calculate the Electronic Structures of Minerals.- 5.2 Chemical Bonding in Silicates.- 5.3 Chemical Bonding in Sulfide Minerals.- 5.4 Bonding in Oxides, Oxyanions, and Halides.- 5.5 Electronic Structures of Iron Oxides and Silicates.- 5.6 Hydrogen Bonding in Minerals.- 6 Properties of Minerals.- 6.1 Elastic Properties of Minerals.- 6.2 Hardness of Minerals.- 6.2.1 Hardness, Compressibility, Cohesive Energy.- 6.2.2 Problems of Extra Hard Materials.- 6.3 Deformations in Minerals.- 6.3.1 Mechanisms of Plastic Deformation in Minerals; Role of Dislocations.- 6.3.2 Fracture Mechanics and Fracture Mechanisms in Minerals.- 6.3.3 High Resolution Electron Microscopic Techniques in the Study of Defects.- 6.3.4 Hydrolytic Weakening of Quartz.- 6.3.5 High Temperature Flow in Minerals and Ceramics and Its Bearing on the Creep Behavior of the Earth's Silicate Mantle.- 6.4 Electrical Properties of Minerals.- 6.4.1 Electrical Conductivity in Iron-Bearing Minerals and Materials.- 6.4.2 Superionic Conductors.- 6.4.3 Electrical Properties of Ore Minerals.- 6.4.4 Dielectric Properties of Minerals and Rocks: Applications to Microwave Remote Sensing.- 6.5 Lattice Dynamics, Vibrational Spectra, Thermodynamic and Heat Properties of Minerals.- 6.5.1 Lattice Dynamics and Force Fields in Crystals.- 6.5.2 Lattice Dynamics and Thermodynamic Properties of Minerals.- 6.5.3 Heat Flow in the Earth's Crust and Mantle.- 6.6 Magnetic Properties of Minerals.- 6.6.1 Magnetic Minerals.- 6.6.2 Self-Reversal of Natural Remanent Magnetization and Magneto Mineralogical Processes. Magnetic Properties and Geothermometry.- 6.6.3 Paleomagnetism, Magnetic Fields of the Ocean Floor, and Plate Tectonics.- 6.6.4 Aeromagnetic Exploration Mineralogy.- 6.6.5 Magnetic Separation; High Magnetic Fields.- 6.7 Optical Properties of Minerals.- 6.7.1 General Review of Optical Mineralogy and Phenomenological Crystal Optics.- 6.7.2 Theoretical Interpretation of Refraction.- 6.7.3 Reflectance Spectra: Their Interpretation Using Band Theory and Application in Mineral Identification.- 6.7.4 Ellipsometry and Modulation Spectroscopy.- 6.7.5 Nonlinear Optical Characteristics of Minerals.- 6.8 Technological Mineralogy and Technological Properties of Minerals.- 6.9 Mineral Properties in Engineering Geology.- 7 Mineralogical Material Science.- 7.1 Concept of Materials as a New Approach to Solids and Minerals; Natural Minerals, and Their Synthetic Analogs as Materials.- 7.2 An Overview of Materials for Electronics and Optics.- 7.2.1 Piezoelectric Materials.- 7.2.2 Materials for Acoustoelectronics.- 7.2.3 Materials for Optics, Electro-optics and Acousto-optics.- 7.2.4 Laser Materials.- 7.2.5 Cathodochromic Screens and Scintillation Counters.- 7.2.6 Nonlinear Optic Materials.- 7.3 Multifunctional Minerals.- 7.3.1 Diamond: the Mineral-Absolute. Applications in Electronics.- 7.3.2 Quartz Crystals in Devices.- 7.3.3 Corundum-Ruby-Sapphire.- 7.3.4 Natural and Synthetic Zeolites. Applications in Radioactivity, Ecology, Petroleum Chemistry, and Agrotechnology.- Mineral Index.