Pyroelectricity and piezoelectricity are not true volume effects

The total polarization of a crystal is sensitive to the state of the surface, even for very large volumes. This point was emphasized by Larmor and later became the basis of more detailed discussions of pyroelectricity and piezoelectricity, by Woo and by the author, questioning the usual textbook theorems. The earlier arguments are summarized and supplemented by a new model: a discussion of electronic redistribution in one-dimensional ordered periodic array of two types of potential wells. © 1981.