Non-destructive Micro Analysis of Cultural Heritage Materials

"This highly informative book is part of the well known series of "Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry" which has assembled an outstanding collection of reference works numbering forty-one volumes so far. This current volume is dedicated to the cultural heritage field and brings together most of the methods of analysis routinely used in this field. The reader of this volume will be directly rewarded by the variety of methods covered and the relevancy of the examples treated. They will necessarily be a student of the cultural heritage field or even a professor looking for an up-to-date reference but also a professional involved in conservation or remediation techniques and, why not, one of the numerous self-educated people who seek to improve their knowledge and understanding of the methods of analysis in this or related field. Reader, prepare for a vast and diverse journey of 800 pages in the realm of the Art processed by Scientific methods!" --SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA, PART B"32 authors from eight countries, belonging to different types of institutions have managed to achieve a reference manual for this discipline. This book will for sure, become a basis for the libraries of all institutions working in the area of analysis of cultural heritage artefacts. Readers will find a wide palette of techniques presented, well-structured basic physics principles chapters, various parameters of performance and choice criteria, complimentarities between different methods and much more. The equilibrium between physics and applications is well respected. This book must also be of interest for curators, conservators/restorers, archaeologists, art historians and historians of the techniques, engineers of the cultural materials industry. Important bibliographic references are given and the book ends with a large and extremely well-structured index." --X-RAY SPECTROM. 2006;35:146-147, Jean Louis Boutaine, Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France, Paris, France.

• Chapter 1. Introduction and overview. Chapter 2. Ultraviolet, infrared and x-ray imaging. Chapter 3. Electron microscopy and its role in cultural heritage. Chapter 4. X-ray based methods of analysis (K. Janssens). Chapter 5. Ion beam microanalysis. Chapter 6. X-Ray photoelectron and Auger electron spectroscopy. Chapter 7. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Chapter 8. Infrared, Raman microscopy and Fibre-Optic Raman Spectroscopy (FORS). Chapter 9. Secondary ion mass spectrometry. Application to archaeology and art. Chapter 10. The non-destructive investigation of copper alloy patinas. Chapter 11. Precious metals artifacts. Chapter 12. Diagnostic methodology for the examination of Byzantine frescoes and icons. Non destructive investigation and pigment identification. Chapter 13. The Provenance of Medieval Silver Coins: Analysis with EDXRF, SEM/EDX and PIXE. Chapter 14. Pigment identification in illuminated manuscripts. Chapter 15. Provenance analysis of glass artefacts. Chapter 16. Corrosion of Historic Glass and Enamels. Chapter 17. A study of ancient manuscripts exposed to iron-gall ink corrosion.