Superconductors : conquering technology's new frontier /

An excellent introduction to a timely topic written by two active practitioners in the field, this book is not highly technical and will serve interested readers at many levels of prior understanding and expertise. At the same time it is comprehensive--touching upon the early history, basic science, recent developments, and applications of conventional as well as high-temperature-oxide superconductors. More than one half of the 300 pages are concerned with materials processing or with applications in transportation, electronics, basic research, and the electric power industries. The text includes many carefully chosen examples and analogs which illuminate unfamiliar details. There are very few errors or misprints, the work having been structured and carried out with obvious care. Two chapters contain interesting discussions of the superconductivity business and of possible developments that would follow the discovery of functioning room-temperature materials. Given the current excitement and future promise of superconductivity, this book will attract a large readership and should be purchased by libraries serving undergraduate and even high school students. -J. U. Trefny, Colorado School of Mines