Written from the chemist's point of view, the authors provide a thorough and pedagogical introduction to the exciting field of inorganic materials. A valuable resource for advanced undergraduate students as well as masters and graduate students of inorganic chemistry and materials science. This fourth edition contains the latest developments in the fast developing field and is completely revised and updated. A completely new chapter gives the reader a thorough introduction to self-assembly and self-organization. Other new content includes: demixing of glasses, non-classical crystallization, precursor chemistry, citrate-gel and Pechini methods, ice-templating and materials with hierarchical porosity.