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01/24/2006 -
Phase Transformations of Elements under High Pressure (2005)
by E. Yu Tonkov and E.G. Ponyatovsky
ISBN 0-8493-3367-9. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. 2005. Hardcover. 377 pages. $139.95.
| REVIEWED BY: | Gary Vardon, Nuset
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Phase Transformations of Elements under High Pressure can be considered as a compilation of results of high-pressure phase change research. To compile means to gather and put together material from various sources, and professors E. Yu Tonkov and E.G. Ponyatovsky did gather a slew of hard data and experimental results. This book contains data on most of the elements and a number of isotopes but not on any compounds. This may well be a good subject for another book.
A quotation from Phase Transformations will give the tone of the treatise. Under gallium, we find the following three sentences, which start the discussion: "At 0.1 Mpa gallium I crystallizes in an orthorhombic structure with space group Cmca and lattice constants a=0.4519 nm, b=0.4526 nm, c=0.766 nm at 25 degree C. The phase I melts at 29.8 degree C the delta V/V1=–2.87% and transforms to the super conducting state at T critical =1.09 K. The metastable phase beta – Ga melts at –16.3 degree C." This quote is very typical. Phase Transformations is rich in facts and cites many references. In point of fact, about 3,500 references are cited in the book. This means that each of the short chapters, which are based on an element's or isotope's phase change behavior, has a multitude of references. The length of the reference section for most chapters exceeds that of commentary on the references. This commentary is what makes up the book except for the references, a brief introduction, and a table of crystallographic data.
Phase Transformations, or a book like it, would be greatly enhanced if it were turned into a hypertext version. Then if a paper or topic were mentioned, that topic could be instantly accessed. This would keep the size of the volume manageable and well organized. At the same time, interesting papers would be immediately accessible and techniques of significance could be described.
Tonkov and Ponyatovsky refer to a number of techniques that may not be widely understood as they relate to phase change work. Examples of such techniques that may well need amplification include shock loading, electroresistance measurements, calculations to determine phase changes, x-ray diffraction, diamond indentation, x-ray scattering using externally heated diamond anvils, and optical methods. These and other procedures were mentioned, but not described in the book. This may well be because a description of the techniques as they relate to phase change measurements would make the volume excessively long and difficult. But based on the materials in Phase Transformations alone (without going to the references), there is no way to know how good the phase transaction research was. The authors do not comment on the quality of the papers that they reference. Is high-pressure phase transition work subject to significant error? What does the equipment used to do phase transition work look like? How skilled are the researchers doing phase change work? How difficult is the work? What are the scientific implications of high-pressure solid-state transitions? What are the economic and technologic impacts of high-pressure phase transitions? Phase Transformations gives an exhaustive study of what was done, but the above questions were beyond the scope of the book. Phase transitions are a branch of thermodynamics, which is not considered the most exciting subject in the world. That may be an apt but vague overall assessment of the book. More pictures, more diagrams, and more discussion of how high pressures and temperatures alter elements would make this branch of thermo more interesting. Comparisons of the behavior of different elements and compounds under pressure would also enhance this work.
All told, Phase Transformations is rich in data, including Curie temperatures and super-conducting temperatures, but the handbook is not much more than a collection of data and references. It is written for researches in solid-state physics, thermodynamics, crystallography, mineralogy, and materials science.
For more on Phase Transformations of Elements under High Pressure, visit the Taylor & Francis/CRC Press web site.
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