Computational Analysis of Polymer Processing. Edited by J. R. A. PEARSON and S. M. RICHARDSON. Applied Science Publishers (Elsevier), 1983. 343 pp. g36.00.

Computational Analysis of Polymer Processing. Edited by J. R. A. PEARSON and S. M. RICHARDSON. Applied Science Publishers (Elsevier), 1983. 343 pp. g36.00. One criterion for judging the success or failure of a book is the extent to which it achieves the objectives of its authors and/or editors. The subject matter of this book is computational analysis of polymer processing, as stated in its title, and the editors state their objective as giving “as useful and connected account as we can of a wide class of applications, for the benefit of scientists and engineers who find themselves working on polymer processing problems and feel the need to undertake such calculations ”. In pursuing this objective, Pearson and Richardson employ the somewhat unusual method of having each chapter written by an “acknowledged expert ”, much in the spirit of a handbook. The advantages claimed of this approach are that each chapter will tend to be self-contained so that an “occasional reader” can begin with any one of them without need to refer backward to earlier material, and that the editors can enlist a set of authors who can provide a more authorative discussion of their areas of special interest than could have been elicited from any one person who attempted to cover the whole set of topics. The inevitable variety in the presentation might be viewed as welcome by some readers (as suggested by the editors), but will be disconcerting to others and a definite disadvantage, in my opinion, to the reader who may wish to use the book as a basis for studying the whole subject rather than one special topic. The book contains nine chapters with titles and authors as follows :