An Introduction to Ceramics

This book embraces both traditional and advanced ceramics produced from synthetic or deeply transformed natural raw materials. Following the path of ceramic innovation, this introduction explains electric properties of ceramic conductors, like high-temperature superconductors, reflects on the interaction of material and electromagnetic radiation, presents the importance of voids and defects in the material, and provides an outlook on most recent developments in the field of ceramics, such as smart or self-healing materials . It provides a quick grasp of the main points of ceramic thinking and is an ideal starting point for students in the field of chemistry, materials science or solid state physics.

Roman Pampuch is a professor-emeritus for Materials Science at the University of Science and Technology, Krakow, an internationally established expert on ceramics, recipient of the Leo Stuits Prize from the European Ceramic Society and from 1973 till 2013 Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Ceramic International”. He gave lectures on ceramics at numerous universities, such as the Technical University Clausthal, Germany, Ecole Nationale Superieure de Ceramique Industrielle, France.