The present work is devoted in a considerable portion to the development of an experimental procedure, accessible to any investigator. On the basis of this procedure a study is made of many pure metals and solid solutions, and great attention is devoted to an investigation of various types of transformations in metals and alloys. Along with noble metals and their alloys, a study is also made of the iron groups. This turns out to be essential for comparison of transformations that occur in iron, cobalt, nickel, and many investigated alloys. The use of the method of thermoelectric phenomena in the investigation of transformations in metals and alloys has yielded exceedingly fruitful results. An entirely new and original method of the use of N.S. Kurnakov's pyrometer, a use proposed by the author, has simplified considerably the experimental procedure, shortening the time of experiments and refining the obtained results.

Practicing engineers will find this text helpful in getting up to date. Readers with some familiarity with this field will be able to follow the presentations with ease. Engineering students and those taking physics courses will find this book to be a useful source of examples of applications of the theory to commercially available materials as well as for uncomplicated explanations of physical properties. In many cases alternate explanations have been provided for clarity.An effort has been made to keep mathematics as an unsophisticated as possible withoutwatering down or distorting the concepts. In practically all cases only a master of elementary calculus is required to follow the derivations. All of thealgebra is shown and no steps in the derivations are considered to be obvious to the reader. Explanations are provided in cases where more advanced mathematics is employed The problems have been designed to promote understanding rather than mathematical or computational skill.