This book was conceived during a dinner at which a special issue of the journal Advanced Materials was being discussed. Realizing that the journal would not be able to accommodate the full breadth and depth of the topic, Gudrun Walter, an imaginative Wiley editor, suggested expanding the special issue into a book.
Proof of the topic’s richness is that the resulting book comprises two volumes containing about 1,200 pages. With such space available, and the ready contributions of international experts in the field, the book surveys in some detail the principles and applications of materials assessment using synchrotron radiation. As an indicator of the scope, a few subsections of one chapter of the book are: alloys, welding, biomaterials, polymers, amorphous materials and composite materials.
Hopefully the dinner menu was as enjoyable as the 20 chapters of the book, which provides a comprehensive discussion of the subject matter.
Review by K. Alan Shore, Bangor University, U.K.
The opinions expressed in the book review section are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of OPN or OSA.