Driving Force unfolds the long and colorful history of magnets: how they guided (or misguided) Columbus; mesmerized eighteenth-century Paris but failed to fool Benjamin Franklin; lifted AC power over its rival, DC, despite all the animals, one human among them, executed along the way; led Einstein to the theory of relativity; helped defeat Hitler's U-boats; inspired writers from Plato to Dave Barry. In a way that will delight and instruct even the nonmathematical among us, James Livingston shows us how scientists today are creating magnets and superconductors that can levitate high-speed trains, produce images of our internal organs, steer high-energy particles in giant accelerators, and--last but not least--heat our morning coffee.

From the "new" science of materials to everyday technology, Driving Force makes the workings of magnets a matter of practical wonder. The book will inform and entertain technical and nontechnical readers alike and will give them a clearer sense of the force behind so much of the working world.

Breakdown is fascinating to the scientist and frustrating to the engineer! As well as advancing the scientific and engineering understanding of electrical degradation and breakdown in polymers, this book forms a comprehensive and international review of the state-of-the-art. Topics include: water and electrical treeing; charge transport; 'classical' and filamentary thermal, electromechanical, electronic and partial discharge breakdown models; the stochastic nature of breakdown and statistical characterisation techniques; and engineering considerations for breakdown testing and degradation assessment. The treatment presumes little prior knowledge but develops into an advanced understanding of new concepts such as the fractal-like nature of trees. Although the book is primarily aimed at scientists and engineers practising in the field, a broad introductory section has been included to cater for a wide audience including those new to the subject area. This comprises a description of the nature of the polymers, basic solid-state physics and an introduction to degradation and breakdown.

Electrical steels are used to form the ferromagnetic cores of motors, generators and transformers. This book provides an insight for the electrical design engineer into what properties may be expected from electrical steels and how these properties may best be exploited in machine design.

The essential reference for anyone engaged in the material study of cast bronze sculpture.
 
Since the fourth millennium BCE, bronze has been the preferred medium for some of the most prestigious and sacred works of art. But only through interdisciplinary research can the fabrication of these extraordinary objects be properly investigated, interpreted, and documented. This innovative publication bridges the expertise of myriad art-technological specialists to create a new framework for advancing the understanding of bronze sculpture.
 
Essential reading for curators, conservators, scientists, archaeologists, sculptors, metallurgists, founders, dealers, collectors, and anyone interested in the life cycle of a bronze, this volume explains how to identify the evidence of process steps, metals used, casting defects, and surface work and alterations before moving on to address analytical techniques ranging from visual exams to imaging, material analyses, and dating. The guidelines are accompanied by detailed illustrations, including videos, charts, and animations; a robust vocabulary, ensuring precision across English, German, French, Italian, and Chinese; a diverse selection of case studies; and a comprehensive bibliography.
 
The free online edition of this open-access publication is available at getty.edu/publications/bronze-guidelines/ and includes videos and zoomable illustrations. Also available are free PDF and EPUB downloads of the book.

High speed data converters represent one of the most challenging, important and exciting analog and mixed-signal systems. They are ubiquitous in our modern and highly connected world. Understanding and designing this class of converters require proficiency in analog circuit design, digital design, and signal processing. This book covers high speed data converters from the perspective of a leading high speed ADC designer and architect, and with a strong emphasis on high speed Nyquist A/D converters.

Non-destructive testing (NDT) analysis techniques are used in science, technology and medicine to evaluate the properties of a material, component or system, without causing damage or altering the article being inspected. It is a highly valuable technique that can save money and time in product evaluation, troubleshooting, and research. Well known and widely used in industrial applications since the 60s, the NDT market is developing and growing fast. This book focuses on electromagnetic NDT methods and more specifically on the motion induced eddy current testing and evaluation (MIECTE) techniques used for conductive materials via electromagnetic methods, focusing on the Lorentz force eddy current testing (LET) method which was introduced recently. The authors present the modelling and simulation of LET systems as well as the optimal design of the measurement setups. They also show the wide variety of applications of the LET method including defect identification and sigmometry to estimate electrical conductivity of the tested material.

This book reviews the state of the art in the use of organic materals as physical, chemical and biomedical sensors in a variety of application settings.

Self-healing materials are an emerging class of smart materials that are capable of repairing themselves from damage, either spontaneously or under a stimulus such as light, heat, or the application of a solvent. Intended for an audience of researchers in academia and industry, this book addresses a wide range of self-healing materials and processes, with emphasis on their performance in the space environment.

This book comprehensively covers the areas of materials growth, characterisation and descriptions for the new devices in siliconheterostructure material systems. In recent years, the development of powerful epitaxial growth techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), ultra-high vacuum chemical vapour deposition (UHVCVD) and other low temperature epitaxy techniques has given rise to a new area of research of bandgap engineering in silicon-based materials. This has paved the way not only for heterojunction bipolar and field effect transistors, but also for other fascinating novel quantum devices. This book provides an excellent introduction and valuable references for postgraduate students and research scientists.

Zeolites are natural or synthetic materials with porous chemical structures that are valuable due to their absorptive and catalytic qualities. Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are manmade organometallic polymers with similar porous structures. This introductory book, with contributions from top-class researchers from all around the world, examines these materials and explains the different synthetic routes available to prepare zeolites and MOFs. The book also highlights how the substances are similar yet different and how they are used by science and industry in situations ranging from fueling cars to producing drugs.