Ceramics are amazing in that they record human history more comprehensively and more deeply than any other human-made artifacts, and yet they are still at the cutting edge of technology, being used as advanced materials in many of today's marvels.
So a book about the uses of ceramics eg in catalysis could be really exciting - which is why I agreed to review one such that was suggested to me. Sadly, it is one of the many monographs published these days with zero editorial effort. Thus, there is no general introduction to the field, and it is left to the authors of each of the chapters separately to tell the readers (again) why ceramics are both culturally fundamental and technologically important.
I do wonder why these books are still published at all - the papers could have very well been published as an online collection, a special issue of a journal or some such. If there's no effort to tie them together editorially to produce something that you might want to read in sequence, why tie them together with cardboard and glue?
Anyhow, after sampling too many of the chapters, I pulled together my own potted history of ceramics, as it were, and this is now out in the June issue of C&I:
Ceramic history
Chemistry & Industry Volume 88, Issue 6, June 2024, Page 34
access via:
Wiley Online Library (paywalled PDF of the whole review section)
SCI (premium content, ie members only)
As always, I'm happy to send a PDF on request.
Corded-Ware culture pottery from 2500 BC Source: Wikipedia
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