The increasing use of powder metallurgy techniques to make an almost infinite variety of materials and products places greater emphasis on utilization of sophisticated experimental techniques. Usually research and development efforts initiate the use of newly developed equipment and analytical procedures. Indeed, the contents of this book are strongly linked to research endeavors, in both the academic and industrials worlds. However, this volume can serve a much needed function in industrial applied powder metallurgy. Although many research­ ers will find the contents of great value, the technical personnel more involved with production, quality control, customer services and product design now have at their dispo­ sal a means to learn about the potential uses of several very important techniques. With today's "knowledge explosion" the present set of papers greatly facilitates the comprehension and adoption of new procedures. If powder metallurgy is to continue its rapid rate of growth in virtually all segments of industry, then the transition of modern equipment and procedures from tools of research and development laboratories to everyday plant operations and applications must be hastened. The editors hope that this volume aids in this process, as well as assisting students and researchers by providing a ready source of up-to-date useful information.

1. Scanning Electron Microscopy in Powder Metallurgy.- 2. The Utilization of Electron Microscopy in the Study of Powder Metallurgical Phenomena I. Neck Growth Measurements for Submicron Copper and Silver Spheres.- 3. The Utilization of Electron Microscopy in the Study of Powder Metallurgical Phenomena II. The Deduction of Neck Growth Mechanism from Rate Data for Submicron Copper and Silver Spheres.- 4. A Bubble Raft Model to Study Sintering by Plastic Flow.- 5. Experimental Quantitative Microscopy with Special Applications to Sintering.- 6. Techniques for the Study of Homogenization in Compacts of Blended Powders.- 7. Hot Stage Microscopy Study of Liquid Phase Sintering.- 8. Dynamic Elastic Determination of the Properties of Sintered Powder Metals.- 9. A Review of Mercury Porosimetry.