What do you think?
Rate this book
A Materials Science Guide to Superconductors: and How to Make Them Super
Superconductors capture the imagination with seemingly magical properties that allow them to carry electricity without losing any energy at all. They are however, extraordinarily difficult materials to work with. In this book, Susannah Speller explores the astonishing variety of
superconducting materials and the rich science behind optimising their performance for use in different applications. Readers will discover how diverse superconducting materials and their applications are, from the metallic alloys used in the Large Hadron Collider to the thin film superconductors
that will be crucial for quantum computers.
This book tells about how even the simplest superconductors have to be carefully designed and engineered on the nanometre scale. Along the way, the reader will be introduced to what materials science is all about and why advanced materials have such widespread importance for technological progress.
With 'Wider View' and 'Under the Lens' sections, Speller provides an accessible and illuminating exploration of superconductors and their place in the modern world.
superconducting materials and the rich science behind optimising their performance for use in different applications. Readers will discover how diverse superconducting materials and their applications are, from the metallic alloys used in the Large Hadron Collider to the thin film superconductors
that will be crucial for quantum computers.
This book tells about how even the simplest superconductors have to be carefully designed and engineered on the nanometre scale. Along the way, the reader will be introduced to what materials science is all about and why advanced materials have such widespread importance for technological progress.
With 'Wider View' and 'Under the Lens' sections, Speller provides an accessible and illuminating exploration of superconductors and their place in the modern world.
- GenresNonfiction
228 pages, Hardcover
Published September 3, 2022
22 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 5, 2024
This is a nice introduction to Material Sicence AND to superconductors.
My daughter is studying Material Science and I tended to hear words like cristallography, microstructure, defects, diffusion...You sort of understand the meaning of the words. But in my case I wasn't understanding how all fit and why they study all those subjects.
This book is great because it allows you to grasp why and have an intuition on how (190 pages won't transform you into a material scientist).
That's one outcome of the book. The other is the main theme. Material science applied to superconductors. Because the book explains about them, about the technology behind them.
Reading the book you notice that the technology behind a superconductor is much more interesting than the composition. For example, creating Bi-2212 (a "High temperature superconductor" with "high" being 100K) you cannot use perfectly balanced (stoichiometric) reactions because you end up with an electric insulator. So you need to dope. Not too much. Not too little.
The book is full of that technology side. In the last chapter, writing about the future you get that the hypothetical room temperature superconductor would be great. But in a way, secondary. What is it's critical field? Can we work with that new material? Can we make wires?
A nice book that helps the public discover a field that is little known.
My daughter is studying Material Science and I tended to hear words like cristallography, microstructure, defects, diffusion...You sort of understand the meaning of the words. But in my case I wasn't understanding how all fit and why they study all those subjects.
This book is great because it allows you to grasp why and have an intuition on how (190 pages won't transform you into a material scientist).
That's one outcome of the book. The other is the main theme. Material science applied to superconductors. Because the book explains about them, about the technology behind them.
Reading the book you notice that the technology behind a superconductor is much more interesting than the composition. For example, creating Bi-2212 (a "High temperature superconductor" with "high" being 100K) you cannot use perfectly balanced (stoichiometric) reactions because you end up with an electric insulator. So you need to dope. Not too much. Not too little.
The book is full of that technology side. In the last chapter, writing about the future you get that the hypothetical room temperature superconductor would be great. But in a way, secondary. What is it's critical field? Can we work with that new material? Can we make wires?
A nice book that helps the public discover a field that is little known.
Displaying 1 of 1 review