Plastics Technology Handbook, Third Edition,

Offers concise examinations of the chemical nature characteristic properties, & uses of traditional industrial polymers, such as acrylics, polyolefins vinyl polymers, polyesters, epoxies, & silicones, among others, & provides up-to-the-minute coverage of specialty polymers designed to satisfy specific needs. DLC: Plastics.

There are a number of one-volume handbooks on plastics technology, though most of them, including Charles A. Harper's Handbook of Plastics, Elastomers, and Composites (3rd edition, McGraw-Hill, 1996), Irvin I. Rubin's Handbook of Plastic Materials and Technology (Wiley, 1990), and Michael Berins' Plastics Engineering Handbook of the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (5th edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1991) combine the work of a large number of contributors. As the work of two authors, this book has a more unified point of view than do most collaborative efforts.Another way in which this book differs is its didactic approach: it is perhaps more a textbook with carefully developed instruction building from the basics through a wide range of polymer technology, than it is a reference handbook. Nonetheless it contains some useful reference information that is not available in the other books mentioned, for example, measurement of viscosity is covered in far greater detail than in the other handbooks, and in general its treatment of plastics properties and testing is very good. The detailed index gives easy access to this information. Chapters contain ample references, some as recent as 1996.In sum, the Plastics Technology Handbook serves as an excellent introduction to the science and technology for plastics, and usefully supplements the other one-volume handbooks in this field. This would be a useful addition to a collection serving researchers and students of polymers and plastics.Reviewer: Robert Michaelson, Science and Engineering Librarian, Northwestern University Science and Engineering Library, rmichael@nwu.eduCopyright 2000 YBP Library Services