This unique and practical book provides quick and easy access to data on the physical and chemical properties of all classes of materials. The second edition has been much expanded to include whole new families of materials while many of the existing families are broadened and refined with new material and up-to-date information. The book is an essential tool for any practitioner or academic working in materials or in engineering. Particular emphasis is placed on the properties of common industrial materials in each class. Detailed appendices provide additional information. The index and tabular format of the book make light work of extracting what the reader needs to know from the wealth of factual information within these covers. Specific further reading sections and a general bibliography round out this comprehensive guide.

François Cardarelli has had wide-ranging commercial and industrial experience of materials, commodities and processes:

. at CNRS in Paris he designed and used electrochemical sensors for pollution control;

. as a research scientist at Électricité de France he helped to invent methods of preparation of industrial titanium and tantalum electrodes;

. as a registered professional consultant in Toulouse, he solved problems in electrochemical engineering, the selection of electrode materials, corrosion and high-temperature operation;

. at the Avestor Corporation, he worked as an industrial electrochemist and materials expert in charge of strategic raw materials, scientific and technical support for lithium processing and, as Battery Product Leader, in charge of lithium polymer batteries for electric vehicles, down-hole drilling anf telecommunications he defined battery requirements and specifications and invented pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processing for spent lithium batteries;

. at Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium, he was principal chemist for Materials at Sorel-Tracy in Quebéc dealing with valorization processes for industrial residues and refactory benchmarking and electrowinning of metallic titanium.

. at the Material and Electrochemical Research (MER) Corp., Tucson (Arizona, USA) he was principal electrochemist working on the electrowinning of titanium metal powder from composite anodes and other materials-related projects.

. at present he is Manager of Recycling at 5NPlus Inc in Saint-Laurent Quebéc.

Doctor Cardarelli is also the author of Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures for Springer (ISBN: 1-85233-682-X).

1 Ferrous Metals and Their Alloys.- 2 Common Nonferrous Metals.- 3 Less Common Nonferrous Metals.- 4 Semiconductors.- 5 Superconductors.- 6 Magnetic Materials.- 7 Insulators and Dielectrics.- 8 Miscellaneous Electrical Materials.- 9 Ceramics and Glasses.- 10 Polymers and Elastomers.- 11 Minerals, Ores, and Gemstones.- 12 Rocks and Meteorites.- 13 Timbers and Woods.- 14 Building and Construction Materials.- 15 Appendices.- 16 Bibliography.