Written by renowned researchers in this field, this up-to date advanced treatise fills a gap in the literature on glasses. It gives an overview of basic experimental data, of its collection, prediction and theoretical interpretation, thereby paving the way to a deeper understanding of these topics. The present monograph covers the whole spectrum of problems involved in the interpretation of glasses and their properties like e.g. glass transition, relaxation, viscosity, existing and possible unexpected future applications of glasses. The book is recommended to students, to both young and experienced researchers interested in materials science, in particular in glasses and glass-ceramics, classical and non-equilibrium thermodynamics. It will become a source of new ideas and inspiration for a wide circle of readers working in other areas of science.

From the contents:

• Basic Properties and the Nature of Glasses: An Overview
• Generic Theory of Vitrification of GlassForming Melts
• Generic Approach to the Viscosity of Glass-Forming Melts
• Thermodynamics of Amorphous Solids, Glasses, and Disordered Crystals
• Principles and Methods of Collection and Analysis of Glass Property Data
• Methods of Prediction of Glass Properties from Chemical Compositions
• Glasses as Accumulators of Free Energy and other Unusual Applications of Glasses
• Glasses and the Third Law of Thermodynamics
• Etymology of the Word "Glass"

Written by renowned researchers in the field, this up-to-date treatise fills the gap for a high-level work discussing current materials and processes. It covers all the steps involved, from vitrification, relaxation and viscosity, right up to the prediction of glass properties, paving the way for improved methods and applications.
For solid state physicists and chemists, materials scientists, and those working in the ceramics industry.

With a preface by L. David Pye and a foreword by Edgar D. Zanotto