This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Crystal Indentation Hardness" that was published in Crystals

Why does someone write a book about Tungsten? There are several reasons and precedents for this, the most important of which is that the last book on tungsten was written more than 20 years ago, in 1977, by St. W H. Yih and Ch T. Wang. During the intervening period there have been many new scientific and technological developments and innova tions, so it was not only our opinion but the view of many other members of the "tungsten family" that it was time to start writing a new book about tungsten. Preparations of the new book began in 1994. further impetus to the project was provided by the realization that in spite of this new knowledge having been presented at seminars or published in the technical press, a general acknowledgement of it by the majority of technicians and scientists is still far from being realized. It is our hope that this book will significantly contribute to a broader acceptance of recent scientific and technological innovations. An important prerequisite for such a project is the availability of a recently retired, experienced person willing to devote his time and talents to the tedious part of the exercise.

The American edition of this handbook contains concise informa tion on the basic physical properties of the elements and on their chem ical characteristics. In general, the data selected for inclusion in the handbook are those which either agree well with calculated data (in those cases where calculations could be carried out) or satisfy various correlations, particularly those based on concepts of the distribution of valence electrons of isolated atoms in the formation of a condensed state, as electrons localized at atomic ions in the form of energetically stable configurations, and as nonlocalized electrons. The Russian edition was published in the USSR in 1965, and new or previously omitted data have been added to all the sections of the present edition. In addition, the authors have considered it necessary to include a series of new sections. Thus, a new table has been included, "Electronic Configurations and Ground States of Free Atoms and Their Ions," since, in the ionization of some atoms (particularly for transition metals), the electrons are not always abstracted from the outer shell, and, consequently, calculation of the ground state (electron energy level) using the usual vector model does not give a direct result. The ground states are obtained experimentally and the table contains the corresponding data on the configurations and states of triply-ionized atoms (which is usually sufficient).

Technologically important metals and alloys have been strengthened throughout history by empirical means. The scientific bases of the central mechanisms of such forms of strengthening, developed over the past several decades are presented here through mechanistic models and associated experimental results.

This new edition of Nanoindentation includes a dedicated chapter on thin films, new material on dynamic analysis and creep, accounts of recent research, and three new appendices on nonlinear least squares fitting, frequently asked questions, and specifications for a nanoindentation instrument. Nanoindentation Second Edition is intended for those who are entering the field for the first time and to act as a reference for those already conversant with the technique.