Materials in Extreme Environments：VOLUME929

The 27 papers examine fundamental properties and the response of materials in such extremes as static and dynamic high pressure, high strain and high strain rates, high radiation and electromagnetic fields, high and low temperatures, corrosive environments, and atomic oxygen. Among the behavior and responses are crack branching, structural transition to super-protonic phase under high pressure, tensile and optical properties of the Hubble telescope's insulation, and nanostructure evolution. As a general rule, these sorts of things are to be avoided, but in some cases, extreme environments are used to produce desired properties. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)