Low-dimensional solids are of fundamental interest in materials science due to their anisotropic properties. Written not only for experts in the field, this book explains the important concepts behind their physics and surveys the most interesting one-dimensional systems and discusses their present and emerging applications in molecular scale electronics. The second edition of this successful book has been completely revised to include the remarkable achievements of the last ten years of research and applications. Chemists, polymer and materials scientists as well as students will find this book a very readable introduction to the solid-state physics of electronic materials.