The second edition of this classic book provides an updated look at crystal field theory and its applications.

This is an essential purchase for all painting conservators and conservation scientists dealing with paintings and painted objects. It provides the first definitive manual dedicated to optical microscopy of historical pigments. Illustrated throughout with full colour images reproduced to the highest possible quality, this book is based on years of painstaking research into the visual and optical properties of pigments. Groundbreaking and comprehensive, the Pigment Compendium is a major addition to the study and understanding of historic pigments.

This is an essential purchase for all painting conservators and conservation scientists dealing with paintings and painted objects. It provides the first definitive manual dedicated to optical microscopy of historical pigments. Illustrated throughout with full colour images reproduced to the highest possible quality, this book is based on years of painstaking research into the visual and optical properties of pigments. Now combined with the Pigment Dictionary, the most thorough reference to pigment names and synonyms avaiable, the Pigment Compendium is a major addition to the study and understanding of historic pigments.

One of the major developments in Earth Sciences in general, and mineralogy in particular, has been the growth of our understanding of the microscopic behaviour of the complex materials that make up the Earth. This has been made possible by advances in our ability to probe minerals at the atomic level, over a large range of pressure and temperature conditions. New experimental techniques include the use of scanning probe microscopies to investigate mineral surfaces, as well as the use of neutron scattering, nuclear spectroscopies and synchrotron radiation to investigate the bonding and structure of minerals. In addition, there have been major developments in computational methods so that it is now possible to calculate the electronic structure of many rock forming materials. The aim of this volume is to give a coherent survey of the latest developments in experimental and theoretical approaches to the study of microscopic propertie~ and processes in minerals. Chapters in the book cover a number of key themes in the mineral sciences such as the behaviour of minerals at extremes of pressure and temperature, ordering in complex silicates, mechanisms of water incorporation in mantle phases, the importance of reactions occurring at the mineral surface, and the ability of computational methods to provide useful, qualitative information on the bulk and surface properties of minerals. The background to several experimental techniques is covered in some detail with examples of relevance to the issues cited above.

Written by leading scientists in the field and intended for a broader readership, this is an ideal starting point for an overview of current research and developments. As such, the book covers a broad spectrum of laboratory astrophysics and chemistry, describing recent advances in experiments, as well as theoretical work, including fundamental physics and modeling chemical networks. For researchers as well as students and newcomers to the field.