TABLE OF CONTENTS In the preceding Chapters, only a few selected examples have been given of the vast number of applications of thermal analysis. To get a better idea of the range of applications over all branches of inorganic, organic, physical and industrial chemistry, metallurgy, polymer science, glass and ceramic science, food science, biology, geology, pharmacy, medicine, agriculture and engineering, it is worth scanning the contents pages of some of the proceedings of the International Conferences on Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC), as well as the biennial reviews in Analytical Chemistry (detailed references are given in Appendix A), or any issue of the major journals in the field: Thermochimica Acta and the Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry.
As suggested in the opening paragraphs of this book, there are very few materials which will not show interesting changes on heating. The materials studied have ranged from kidney stones to synthetic diamonds, and from ancient papyri to the latest polymers and ceramics for very specialized applications. Maximum information can only be obtained by combining the results of the use of several different (preferably simultaneous) thermal analysis techniques with other complementary measurements. The information so obtained has been used to solve old problems and to develop new processes for the future.
Reading and colleagues, who have been so active at the forefront of developments in many areas of Thermal Analysis, have published their views of "Thermal Analysis for the 21 st Century"
