Preface to the Reissue of the Materials Characterization Series The 11 volumes in the Materials Characterization Series were originally published between 1993 and 1996. They were intended to be complemented by the Encyclope- dia of Materials Characterization, which provided a description of the analytical tech- niques most widely referred to in the individual volumes of the series. The individual materials characterization volumes are no longer in print, so we are reissuing them under this new imprint. The idea of approaching materials characterization from the material user's per- spective rather than the analytical expert's perspective still has great value, and though there have been advances in the materials discussed in each volume, the basic issues involved in their characterization have remained largely the same. The intent with this reissue is, first, to make the original information available once more, and then to gradually update each volume, releasing the changes as they occur by on-line subscription. C. R. Brundle and C. A. Evans, October 2009 ix