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Fundamentals of Ceramic Powder Processing and Synthesis T.A. Ring, (Academic Press, San Diego, 1996) 983 pages, $150.00, ISBN 0-12-588930-5 The term "processing" often carries different meanings depending on the context in which it is being used. Ceramic powder processing is generally held to involve four qualitatively distinct steps: raw materials preparation, forming/shaping, high-temperature processing, and finishing. Raw materials preparation involves both beneficiation of natural raw minerals and synthesis of novel powders. The details of the processes involved determine the chemical make-up and both the size and shape distributions of a given powder. All are important to the success of the process. The step that imparts the geometrical information (i.e., the desired shape) also determines the average and variance of many properties of the green microstructure (e.g., the green density of the powder compact and the coordination number of particles). High-temperature processing, or "firing," usually involves loss of some materials (organics and water), densification or sintering, and one or more chemical reactions including both solid-state and gas-solid reactions. Postprocess finishing steps include machining (contrary to the common assertion, ceramics are readily and commonly machined using diamond-based abrasives), application of glazes or other coatings, or heat treatment to alter microstructure (via grain growth or change in phase distribution). Different texts that employ the term "ceramic processing" can have a very different emphasis. Ring's book dearly emphasizes synthesis. This is a massive tome broken down into six sections. The second section, which is devoted to synthesis, is the largest, encompassing nearly one-third of the book. Considerably more than half of the book is occupied when the sections on characterization of powders and colloidal chemistry are added together with the section on synthesis. Forming, thermal processing (drying, binder burnout, and sintering), and finishing make up the minor fraction of the book. The title could be reversed to read "Synthesis of Ceramic Powders and Their Processing." The construction and content of the book are both reminiscent of a college-level chemical engineering text. The author states that one goal of the text is to give a more formal and rigorous mathematical treatment than is customary in discussions of ceramic processing. It succeeds very well in meeting this goal. Potential readers should be aware that a working knowledge of partial differential equations is assumed. Exclusive of the first and last chapters, there is an average of 84 mathematical expressions per chapter, and three appendices are included on differential operators. The book's strengths include the level of rigor in the analyses presented, the depth of coverage of synthesis and colloidal chemistry, and the up-to-date references. However, the expectations of the readers are high, and those without the benefit of a sound background in mathematics or outside help (such as a qualified