This handbook provides an overview on wood science and technology of unparalleled comprehensiveness and international validity. It describes the fundamental wood biology, chemistry and physics, as well as structure-property relations of wood and wood-based materials. The different aspects and steps of wood processing are presented in detail from both a fundamental technological perspective and their realisation in industrial contexts. The discussed industrial processes extend beyond sawmilling and the manufacturing of adhesively bonded wood products to the processing of the various wood-based materials, including pulp and paper, natural fibre materials and aspects of bio-refinery. Core concepts of wood applications, quality and life cycle assessment of this important natural resource are presented. The book concludes with a useful compilation of fundamental material parameters and data as well as a glossary of terms in accordance with the most important industry standards. Written and edited by a truly international team of experts from academia, research institutes and industry, thoroughly reviewed by external colleagues, this handbook is well-attuned to educational demands, as well as providing a summary of state-of-the-art research trends and industrial requirements. It is an invaluable resource for all professionals in research and development, and engineers in practise in the field of wood science and technology.

The Age of Coal describes the enormous contribution of coal to the history of Europe over the last 250 years and how it helped to transform the way we live, transforming industrialisation; transport; home life; organic chemistry; international relations; the labour market and labour organization; as well as the vast environmental impact.

Ötzi the iceman could not do without wood when he was climbing his Alpine glacier, nor could medieval cathedral-builders or today's construction companies. From time immemorial, the skill of the human hand has developed by working wood, so much so that we might say that the handling of wood is a basic element in the history of the human body. The fear of a future wood famine became a panic in the 18th century and sparked the beginnings of modern environmentalism. This book traces the cultural history of wood and offers a highly original account of the connection between the raw material and the human beings who benefit from it. Even more, it shows that wood can provide a key for a better understanding of history, of the pecularities as well as the varieties of cultures, of a co-evolution of nature and culture, and even of the rise and fall of great powers. Beginning with Stone Age hunters, it follows the twists and turns of the story through the Middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution to the global society of the twenty-first century, in which wood is undergoing a varied and unexpected renaissance. Radkau is sceptical of claims that wood is about to disappear, arguing that such claims are self-serving arguments promoted by interest groups to secure cheaper access to, and control over, wood resources. The whole forest and timber industry often strikes the outsider as a world unto itself, a hermetically sealed black box, but when we lift the lid on this box, as Radkau does here, we will be surprised by what we find within. Wide-ranging and accessible, this rich historical analysis of one of our most cherished natural resources will find a wide readership.