Customer Rating:  
Summary: Slightly Disappointed in 4th Ed.
Comment: I love materials science and as a bibliophile I anticipated the release this new edition for months. Surely for that price and the 15 year interim since the last edition, I expected a grand volume updated with multicolored illustrations, supplementary sidebars, interactive CD, example problems - sometime suitable for bedtime reading at my wife's side. But alas.
Well, at least the 4th Ed. has a nicer cover, and some of the typos were corrected. The content is still excellent even though the authors had the audacity to omit two chapters on fracture mechanics "to increase the focus of the text" - okay.
My advise: Buy the 3rd edition instead. You'll be getting more for less.
Customer Rating:
Summary: May be great reference, but not good for learning
Comment: It has been three years since I had taken a material science-like course. So, I had hoped, that by opening this book, I would relearn the concepts I had forgotten.
Focus:
An intense look at the physcial metallurgy of metals, beginning with methods, going to crystallography, phase diagrams, and focusing on specific metals (iron-carbon, steels, etc.).
Good:
This book goes into great details. Metallography, crystallography are explained, many concepts are in great depth.
Bad:
This is absolutely not a good book if you don't know much on the subject or are rusty (like me). A lot of time is spent on the intricacies on microscopy. Many of the concepts are presented in too much detail. I feel that instead of learning about the properties of materials and material selection that I spend most of the time learning about every detail involved in the creation of dislocations. While this is very informative, as an engineer, I need to be able to select apropos materials, not spout how an electron microscope works or the fine details in edge dislocation. Homework problems are odd. And would it hurt if the pictures could have been colored?
Overall:
Again, good reference. Bad at teaching or reteaching you material science.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very good foundation
Comment: I believe that this book is an excellent text for understanding physical metallurgy for the beginner . This is also an excellent reference manual for later information.
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