Journal Of The American Ceramic Society

Based on the sintering conference held at the Pennsylvania State University, USA, this text presents advances in the application of sintering to the most important industrial materials. It offers results on both solid-state and microphase sintering as well as microstructure evolution, and introduces new applications, processes, materials and solutions to technical problems.

Ceramic fuel cells, commonly known as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), have been under development for a broad range of electric power generation applications. The most attractive feature of the SOFC is its clean and efficient production of electricity from a variety of fuels. The SOFC has the potential to be manufactured and operated cost-effectively. The widening interest in this technology, thus, arises from the continuing need to develop cleaner and more efficient means of converting energy sources into useful forms. This topical book provides a comprehensive treatise on solid oxide fuel cells and succeeds successfully in filling the gap in the market for a reference book in this field. Directed towards scientists, engineers, and technical managers working with SOFCs as well as ceramic devices based on conducting materials, and in related fields, the book will also be invaluable as a textbook for science and engineering courses.

Pottery is the most ubiquitous find in most historical archaeological excavations and serves as the basis for much research in the discipline. But it is not only its frequency that makes it a prime dataset for such research, it is also that pottery embeds many dimensions of the human experience, ranging from the purely technical to the eminently symbolic. The aim of this book is to provide a cutting-edge theoretical and methodological framework, as well as a practical guide, for archaeologists, students and researchers to study ceramic assemblages. As opposed to the conventional typological approach, which focuses on vessel shape and assumed function with the main goal of establishing a chronological sequence, the proposed framework is based on the technological approach. Such an approach utilizes the concept of chaîne opératoire, which is geared to an anthropological interpretation of archaeological objects. The author offers a sound theoretical background accompanied by an original research strategy whose presentation is at the heart of this book. This research strategy is presented in successive chapters that are geared to explain not only how to study archaeological assemblages, but also why the proposed methods are essential for achieving ambitious interpretive goals. In the heated debate on the equation stating that “pots equal people”, which is a rather fuzzy reference to assumed relationships between (mostly) ethnic groups and pottery, technology enables us to propose with conviction the equation “pots equal potters”. In this way, a well-founded history of potters is able to achieve a much better cultural and anthropological understanding of ancient societies.​