The 43 papers describe new techniques for characterizing the location and size of cracks, the extent of water absorption in adhesives and other polymers, neutron-induced losses of fracture toughness in reactor steels, and the weathering of concrete. They also present applications to structures that for economic reasons are being used well past their design lives. Special emphasis is given to the structural health of concrete, defects in high- strength aircraft materials, and steels in nuclear reactors. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The 34 papers investigate the processing routes and properties of the complex molecular and macromolecular structures that hold biological cells together, both to reveal some of the mysteries of cell function and to identify natural solutions for optimizing membranes that might be adapted for applications in materials science. They cover the mechanics of DNA; the cytoskeleton, semiflexible polymers, polyelectrolytes, and motor proteins; properties and models of membranes and their interactions with macromolecules; biomaterials; and cells and cellular processes. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The 31 papers, about half of the symposium's presentations, were selected to provide a representative sampling of the present status of materials used in vacuum microelectronics. They range across all aspects of electron field emission from theory and physical mechanisms to device structure, but many focus on the fabrication, characterization, and modeling of electron emissive materials. The sections cover field-emitter arrays and applications, carbon and wide-bandgap cathodes, and other cathode materials. Reproduced from typescripts. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Containing 65 papers from the symposium titled Chemical Aspects of Electronic Ceramics Processing held in November- December 1997 in Boston, the contents of this volume are divided into five sections: chemical vapor deposition of oxide ceramics; chemical vapor deposition of nonoxide ceramics; solution routes to ceramic materials; characterization and application of ceramic materials; and process characterization as a form of novel processing of ceramic materials. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Fifty papers from the December 1997 symposium which covered the application of electrical measurements for the detection of microstructural features at all length scales. In addition to the topics covered in the first symposium--dc and ad resistivity measurements, impedance/admittance analysis, multiplane analysis and various other methods such as electron energy loss spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and capacitance voltage measurements--there are several papers which combine electrical measurements with STM, AFM, NSOM and electroluminescence techniques so that more localized information may be obtainable. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR