All living things on Earth are composed of cells. A cell is the simplest unit of a self-contained living organism, and the vast majority of life on Earth consists of single-celled microbes, mostly bacteria. These consist of a simple 'prokaryotic' cell, with no nucleus. The bodies of more complex plants and animals consist of billions of 'eukaryotic' cells, of varying kinds, adapted to fill different roles - red blood cells, muscle cells, branched neurons. Each cell is an astonishingly complex chemical factory, the activities of which we have only begun to unravel in the past fifty years or so through modern techniques of microscopy, biochemistry, and molecular biology.In this Very Short Introduction, Terence Allen and Graham Cowling describe the nature of cells - their basic structure, their varying forms, their division, their differentiation from initially highly flexible stem cells, their signalling, and programmed death. Cells are the basic constituent of life, and understanding cells and how they work is central to all biology and medicine.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Microscopy is a dynamic area of science, incorporating both basic classroom microscopes and sophisticated research style instruments that can be driven by light, electrons, or X-rays. The rate of advance in the area over the last 50 years has led to a number of technological advances. In this Very Short Introduction Terence Allen, an established expert on microscope techniques, describes the scientific principles behind the main forms of microscopy, and the exciting new developments in the field. Focusing on the main underlying principles, and introducing the power of what is achievable today using microscopes, Allen demonstrates how microscopy impinges on almost every aspect of our daily lives; from medical diagnosis to quality control in manufacture. Beginning with a brief history of the early stages of microscopy development, Allen then concludes with a comprehensive account of the diverse spectrum of microscopy available today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Microscopy is a dynamic area of science, incorporating both basic classroom microscopes and sophisticated research style instruments that can be driven by light, electrons, or X-rays. The rate of advance in the area over the last 50 years has led to a number of technological advances. In this Very Short Introduction Terence Allen, an established expert on microscope techniques, describes the scientific principles behind the main forms of microscopy, and the exciting new developments in the field. Focusing on the main underlying principles, and introducing the power of what is achievable today using microscopes, Allen demonstrates how microscopy impinges on almost every aspect of our daily lives; from medical diagnosis to quality control in manufacture. Beginning with a brief history of the early stages of microscopy development, Allen then concludes with a comprehensive account of the diverse spectrum of microscopy available today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

All living things on Earth are composed of cells. A cell is the simplest unit of a self-contained living organism, and the vast majority of life on Earth consists of single-celled microbes, mostly bacteria. These consist of a simple ''prokaryotic'' cell, with no nucleus. The bodies of more complex plants and animals consist of billions of ''eukaryotic'' cells, of varying kinds, adapted to fill different roles - red blood cells, muscle cells, branched neurons. Each cell is an astonishingly complex chemical factory, the activities of which we have only begun to unravel in the past fifty years or so through modern techniques of microscopy, biochemistry, and molecular biology. In this Very Short Introduction, Terence Allen and Graham Cowling describe the nature of cells - their basic structure, their varying forms, their division, their differentiation from initially highly flexible stem cells, their signalling, and programmed death. Cells are the basic constituent of life, and understanding cells and how they work is central to all biology and medicine. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

All living things on Earth are composed of cells. A cell is the simplest unit of a self-contained living organism, and the vast majority of life on Earth consists of single-celled microbes, mostly bacteria. These consist of a simple ''prokaryotic'' cell, with no nucleus. The bodies of more complex plants and animals consist of billions of ''eukaryotic'' cells, of varying kinds, adapted to fill different roles - red blood cells, muscle cells, branched neurons. Each cell is an astonishingly complex chemical factory, the activities of which we have only begun to unravel in the past fifty years or so through modern techniques of microscopy, biochemistry, and molecular biology. In this Very Short Introduction, Terence Allen and Graham Cowling describe the nature of cells - their basic structure, their varying forms, their division, their differentiation from initially highly flexible stem cells, their signalling, and programmed death. Cells are the basic constituent of life, and understanding cells and how they work is central to all biology and medicine. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Microscopy is a dynamic area of science, incorporating both basic classroom microscopes and sophisticated research style instruments that can be driven by light, electrons, or X-rays. The rate of advance in the area over the last 50 years has led to a number of technological advances. In this Very Short Introduction Terence Allen, an established expert on microscope techniques, describes the scientific principles behind the main forms of microscopy, and the exciting new developments in the field. Focusing on the main underlying principles, and introducing the power of what is achievable today using microscopes, Allen demonstrates how microscopy impinges on almost every aspect of our daily lives; from medical diagnosis to quality control in manufacture. Beginning with a brief history of the early stages of microscopy development, Allen then concludes with a comprehensive account of the diverse spectrum of microscopy available today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This is the fifth edition of the highly successful work first published in 1968, comprising two definitive volumes on particle characterisation. The first volume is devoted to sampling and particle size measurement, while surface area and pore size determination are reviewed in volume 2.Particle size and characterisation are central to understanding powder properties and behaviour. This book describes numerous potential measuring devices, how they operate and their advantages and disadvantages. It comprise a fully comprehensive treatise on the wide range of available equipment with an extensive literature survey, and a list of manufacturers and suppliers.The author's blend of academic and industrial experience results in a readable technical book with information on how to analyse, present, and extract useful information from data. This is an essential reference book for both industrial and academic research workers in a variety of areas including: pharmaceuticals, food science, pollution analysis and control, electronic materials, agricultural products, polymers, pigments and chemicals.

This is the fifth edition of the highly successful work first published in 1968, comprising two definitive volumes on particle characterisation. The first volume is devoted to sampling and particle size measurement, while surface area and pore size determination are reviewed in volume 2.Particle size and characterisation are central to understanding powder properties and behaviour. This book describes numerous potential measuring devices, how they operate and their advantages and disadvantages. It comprise a fully comprehensive treatise on the wide range of available equipment with an extensive literature survey, and a list of manufacturers and suppliers.The author's blend of academic and industrial experience results in a readable technical book with information on how to analyse, present, and extract useful information from data. This is an essential reference book for both industrial and academic research workers in a variety of areas including: pharmaceuticals, food science, pollution analysis and control, electronic materials, agricultural products, polymers, pigments and chemicals.

A two-volume set on particle characterization. Volume one deals with sampling and particle size management, while surface area and pore size determination are reviewed in volume two. Particle size and characterization are central to understanding powder properties and behaviour. The volumes describe potential measuring devices, how they operate, and their advantages and disadvantages. It comprises a comprehensive treatise on the range of available equipment with a literature survey, and a list of manufacturers and suppliers. The books show how to analyze, present and extract useful information from the data.

Although man''s environment, from the interstellar dust to the earth beneath his feet, is composed to a large extent of finely divided material, his knowledge of the propert­ ies of such materials is surprisingly slight. For many years the scientist has accepted that matter may exist as solids, liquids or gases although the dividing line between the states may often be rather blurred; this classification has been upset by powders, which at rest are solids, when aerated may behave as liquids, and when suspended in gases take on some of the properties of gases. It is now widely recognized that powder technology is a field of study in its own right. The industrial applications of this new science are far reaching. The size of fine particles affects the properties of a powder in many important ways. For example, it determines the setting time of cement, the hiding power of pigments and the activity of chemical catalysts; the taste of food, the potency of drugs and the sintering shrink­ ageof metallurgical powders are also strongly affected by the size of the particles of which the powder is made up. Particle size measurement is to powder technology as thermometry is to the study of heat and is in the same state of flux as thermometry was in its early days. Only in the case of a sphere can the size of a particle be completely described by one number.

Powder technology is a subject in its own right, and powder characterization is central to an understanding of this discipline. In the eight years since the printing of the third edition of Particle Size Measurement there have been two big changes in my life. After thirty years of academia I have returned to industry, and after a lifetime in Great Britain I have emigrated to the United States. In industry the initial demand is to relate powder properties to product performance and then to maintain powder consistency. This requires on-line or rapid off-line analysis which, in turn, has led to the demand for a whole range of new instruments whose primary function is process monitoring. Historically, chemical engineering courses have concentrated on the be­ haviour of fluids, and engineers enter industry relatively unschooled in the subject of powder behaviour . Yet, when my colleagues Reg Davies and John Boughton surveyed three thousand Dupont products, they discovered that 80% involved powder at some stage of their manufacture. The results of this survey illustrate the need for more training in this key subject. This edition reflects the changing image of powder characterization towards in-process size analysis. Hence the chapter covering on-line analysis has been largely re-written. Apart from this, I have expanded certain sections and describe the new instruments that have been introduced since the last edition.

All living things on Earth are composed of cells. A cell is the simplest unit of a self-contained living organism, and the vast majority of life on Earth consists of single-celled microbes, mostly bacteria. These consist of a simple 'prokaryotic' cell, with no nucleus. The bodies of more complex plants and animals consist of billions of 'eukaryotic' cells, of varying kinds, adapted to fill different roles - red blood cells, muscle cells, branched neurons. Each cell is an astonishingly complex chemical factory, the activities of which we have only begun to unravel in the past fifty years or so through modern techniques of microscopy, biochemistry, and molecular biology.In this Very Short Introduction, Terence Allen and Graham Cowling describe the nature of cells - their basic structure, their varying forms, their division, their differentiation from initially highly flexible stem cells, their signalling, and programmed death. Cells are the basic constituent of life, and understanding cells and how they work is central to all biology and medicine.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Microscopy is a dynamic area of science, incorporating both basic classroom microscopes and sophisticated research style instruments that can be driven by light, electrons, or X-rays. The rate of advance in the area over the last 50 years has led to a number of technological advances. In this Very Short Introduction Terence Allen, an established expert on microscope techniques, describes the scientific principles behind the main forms of microscopy, and the exciting new developments in the field. Focusing on the main underlying principles, and introducing the power of what is achievable today using microscopes, Allen demonstrates how microscopy impinges on almost every aspect of our daily lives; from medical diagnosis to quality control in manufacture. Beginning with a brief history of the early stages of microscopy development, Allen then concludes with a comprehensive account of the diverse spectrum of microscopy available today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Microscopy is a dynamic area of science, incorporating both basic classroom microscopes and sophisticated research style instruments that can be driven by light, electrons, or X-rays. The rate of advance in the area over the last 50 years has led to a number of technological advances. In this Very Short Introduction Terence Allen, an established expert on microscope techniques, describes the scientific principles behind the main forms of microscopy, and the exciting new developments in the field. Focusing on the main underlying principles, and introducing the power of what is achievable today using microscopes, Allen demonstrates how microscopy impinges on almost every aspect of our daily lives; from medical diagnosis to quality control in manufacture. Beginning with a brief history of the early stages of microscopy development, Allen then concludes with a comprehensive account of the diverse spectrum of microscopy available today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

All living things on Earth are composed of cells. A cell is the simplest unit of a self-contained living organism, and the vast majority of life on Earth consists of single-celled microbes, mostly bacteria. These consist of a simple ''prokaryotic'' cell, with no nucleus. The bodies of more complex plants and animals consist of billions of ''eukaryotic'' cells, of varying kinds, adapted to fill different roles - red blood cells, muscle cells, branched neurons. Each cell is an astonishingly complex chemical factory, the activities of which we have only begun to unravel in the past fifty years or so through modern techniques of microscopy, biochemistry, and molecular biology. In this Very Short Introduction, Terence Allen and Graham Cowling describe the nature of cells - their basic structure, their varying forms, their division, their differentiation from initially highly flexible stem cells, their signalling, and programmed death. Cells are the basic constituent of life, and understanding cells and how they work is central to all biology and medicine. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

All living things on Earth are composed of cells. A cell is the simplest unit of a self-contained living organism, and the vast majority of life on Earth consists of single-celled microbes, mostly bacteria. These consist of a simple ''prokaryotic'' cell, with no nucleus. The bodies of more complex plants and animals consist of billions of ''eukaryotic'' cells, of varying kinds, adapted to fill different roles - red blood cells, muscle cells, branched neurons. Each cell is an astonishingly complex chemical factory, the activities of which we have only begun to unravel in the past fifty years or so through modern techniques of microscopy, biochemistry, and molecular biology. In this Very Short Introduction, Terence Allen and Graham Cowling describe the nature of cells - their basic structure, their varying forms, their division, their differentiation from initially highly flexible stem cells, their signalling, and programmed death. Cells are the basic constituent of life, and understanding cells and how they work is central to all biology and medicine. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Microscopy is a dynamic area of science, incorporating both basic classroom microscopes and sophisticated research style instruments that can be driven by light, electrons, or X-rays. The rate of advance in the area over the last 50 years has led to a number of technological advances. In this Very Short Introduction Terence Allen, an established expert on microscope techniques, describes the scientific principles behind the main forms of microscopy, and the exciting new developments in the field. Focusing on the main underlying principles, and introducing the power of what is achievable today using microscopes, Allen demonstrates how microscopy impinges on almost every aspect of our daily lives; from medical diagnosis to quality control in manufacture. Beginning with a brief history of the early stages of microscopy development, Allen then concludes with a comprehensive account of the diverse spectrum of microscopy available today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This is the fifth edition of the highly successful work first published in 1968, comprising two definitive volumes on particle characterisation. The first volume is devoted to sampling and particle size measurement, while surface area and pore size determination are reviewed in volume 2.Particle size and characterisation are central to understanding powder properties and behaviour. This book describes numerous potential measuring devices, how they operate and their advantages and disadvantages. It comprise a fully comprehensive treatise on the wide range of available equipment with an extensive literature survey, and a list of manufacturers and suppliers.The author's blend of academic and industrial experience results in a readable technical book with information on how to analyse, present, and extract useful information from data. This is an essential reference book for both industrial and academic research workers in a variety of areas including: pharmaceuticals, food science, pollution analysis and control, electronic materials, agricultural products, polymers, pigments and chemicals.

This is the fifth edition of the highly successful work first published in 1968, comprising two definitive volumes on particle characterisation. The first volume is devoted to sampling and particle size measurement, while surface area and pore size determination are reviewed in volume 2.Particle size and characterisation are central to understanding powder properties and behaviour. This book describes numerous potential measuring devices, how they operate and their advantages and disadvantages. It comprise a fully comprehensive treatise on the wide range of available equipment with an extensive literature survey, and a list of manufacturers and suppliers.The author's blend of academic and industrial experience results in a readable technical book with information on how to analyse, present, and extract useful information from data. This is an essential reference book for both industrial and academic research workers in a variety of areas including: pharmaceuticals, food science, pollution analysis and control, electronic materials, agricultural products, polymers, pigments and chemicals.

A two-volume set on particle characterization. Volume one deals with sampling and particle size management, while surface area and pore size determination are reviewed in volume two. Particle size and characterization are central to understanding powder properties and behaviour. The volumes describe potential measuring devices, how they operate, and their advantages and disadvantages. It comprises a comprehensive treatise on the range of available equipment with a literature survey, and a list of manufacturers and suppliers. The books show how to analyze, present and extract useful information from the data.

Although man''s environment, from the interstellar dust to the earth beneath his feet, is composed to a large extent of finely divided material, his knowledge of the propert­ ies of such materials is surprisingly slight. For many years the scientist has accepted that matter may exist as solids, liquids or gases although the dividing line between the states may often be rather blurred; this classification has been upset by powders, which at rest are solids, when aerated may behave as liquids, and when suspended in gases take on some of the properties of gases. It is now widely recognized that powder technology is a field of study in its own right. The industrial applications of this new science are far reaching. The size of fine particles affects the properties of a powder in many important ways. For example, it determines the setting time of cement, the hiding power of pigments and the activity of chemical catalysts; the taste of food, the potency of drugs and the sintering shrink­ ageof metallurgical powders are also strongly affected by the size of the particles of which the powder is made up. Particle size measurement is to powder technology as thermometry is to the study of heat and is in the same state of flux as thermometry was in its early days. Only in the case of a sphere can the size of a particle be completely described by one number.

Powder technology is a subject in its own right, and powder characterization is central to an understanding of this discipline. In the eight years since the printing of the third edition of Particle Size Measurement there have been two big changes in my life. After thirty years of academia I have returned to industry, and after a lifetime in Great Britain I have emigrated to the United States. In industry the initial demand is to relate powder properties to product performance and then to maintain powder consistency. This requires on-line or rapid off-line analysis which, in turn, has led to the demand for a whole range of new instruments whose primary function is process monitoring. Historically, chemical engineering courses have concentrated on the be­ haviour of fluids, and engineers enter industry relatively unschooled in the subject of powder behaviour . Yet, when my colleagues Reg Davies and John Boughton surveyed three thousand Dupont products, they discovered that 80% involved powder at some stage of their manufacture. The results of this survey illustrate the need for more training in this key subject. This edition reflects the changing image of powder characterization towards in-process size analysis. Hence the chapter covering on-line analysis has been largely re-written. Apart from this, I have expanded certain sections and describe the new instruments that have been introduced since the last edition.