R.W. Cahn - Böcker

The continuing rapid development of materials science and engineering is graphically reflected in the 130 articles in this second Supplementary Volume to the highly acclaimed Encyclopedia of Materials Science and Engineering. Under the guidance of a distinguished Editorial Advisory Board, Professor Robert Cahn has commissioned over 160 authorities worldwide to provide new articles in the expanding areas of composite materials, advanced and traditional ceramics, electronic and superconducting materials, elastomers and polymer applications, wood and paper, industrial minerals, materials characterization, surfaces and interfaces, fundamental physical metallurgy and metals processing, production and fabrication. All articles are extensively cross-referenced, subject-indexed and provided with select bibliographies for further reading. Special features of this and subsequent Supplementary Volumes are a cumulating analytical table of contents and subject-index which together will enable the reader to access information in the current or previous Supplementary Volumes without reference to earlier tables of indexes. Complete alphabetical lists of titles and contributors are also provided. The continuing publication of biennial Supplementary Volumes will ensure that the Encyclopedia of Materials Science and Engineering remains the single most comprehensive overview of recent research and development in all aspects of materials science and engineering.

The Coming of Materials Science both covers the discipline of materials science, and draws an impressionistic map of the present state of the subject.

The first chapter examines the emergence of the materials science concept, in both academe and industry. The second and third chapters delve back into the prehistory of materials science, examining the growth of such concepts as atoms, crystals and thermodynamics, and also examine the evolution of a number of neighbouring disciplines, to see what helpful parallels might emerge.

The book contains numerous literature references. Many refer to the earliest key papers and books, while others are to sources, often books, offering a view of the present state of a topic. Early references are to the past but as the book continues, it brings the reader up to date with more recent sources.

The author, Professor Robert Cahn FRS, has striven to be critical about the history of the discipline of materials science and to draw general conclusions about scientific practice from what he has discovered about the evolution of materials science. Further issues that the book highlights include: What is a scientific discipline? How do disciplines merge and differentiate? Can a discipline also be interdisciplinary? Is materials science a real discipline? A large range of themes is presented in the book and readers are invited to interact with the author if they reach alternative conclusions. This book is not just for reading and reference, but exists to stimulate thought and provoke discussion as well.

The renowned series "Materials Science and Technology" is a first in scope, depth, and usability for this continuously growing interdisciplinary field. It established itself as a seminal work and essential reference to the field. This online edition now offers this wealth of information in one complete set of eleven volumes covering the most important classes of materials: metals, ceramics, glasses, polymers, semiconductors, and composites. The reader will benefit from the concise summary of the key knowledge of properties, processing, applications, and general phenomena associated with these materials.