The major objective of this text is to provide information on the microscopy techniques and specimen preparation methods applicable to polymers. The aim is to provide enough detail for the methods described to be applied by the reader, while providing appropriate references for those who need more detail than can be provided in a single text.
We recognize that scientists from a wide range of backgrounds may be interested in polymer microscopy. Some may be experienced in the field, and this text should provide
a reference source and a resource whenever a new material or a new problem comes to their attention. The scientist, engineer or graduate student new to the field needs more explanation and help. The focus here is on the needs of the industrial scientist and the graduate student. Some may need to know more about the intrinsic capabilities of micro­ scopes of all types, so there is a description of basic imaging principles and of instruments, both classical and those more recently invented. Others may know all about microscopes and little about polymers, so there is a discussion of polymer structure and properties to put the microscopy into context. A brief section on processing of polymers has also been added.

As the text has been designed to cater to this wide range of backgrounds, some of these more introductory sections will not be for every reader. However, the organization of chapter and section headings should lead the reader to the information needed, and an extensive index is provided for the same purpose.
The first edition of this book was published twenty years ago, in 1987, and a second edition was published in 1996. There were many changes between those two editions, but the advances in microscopy and polymers in the last decade have been even more signifi­ cant, requiring major revision. We were pleased when Springer invited us to provide this third edition allowing us to bring "Polymer Microscopy" up to date once again. This edition follows the same basic principles as the first two, with significant editing of older work and inclusion of new material. The rapid development of Scanning Probe Micros­ copy (SPM) and complete conversion to digital imaging has most affected the image capabilities used for polymers. Additionally, new polymer materials such as nanocom­ posites have been developed that require the use of microscopy. Overall it has been an exciting decade for polymer microscopy and our goal is to provide a window to view these new technologies.
Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to polymer materials, processes, morphology and characterization. Chapter 2 is a concise review of the fundamentals of microscopy, where many important terms are defined. Chapter 3 reviews imaging theory for the reader who wants to understand the nature of image formation in the various types of microscopes, with particular reference to imaging polymers and how instrumental param­ eters affect results. These chapters are summaries of large fields of science, to make this text complete, and they contain many references to more specialized texts and reviews.
Chapters 4 and 5 contain the major thrust of the book. Chapter 4 covers specimen preparation, organized by method with enough detail given to allow a reader to conduct such preparations. * Many new methods have been added, especially those developed for use with the SPM and those relating to improvements in cryo-TEM. The references are chosen to provide the best detail and support. Chapter 5 describes the application of these methods to the study of specific types of polymers. The organization is by the form of the material, as fibers, films, membranes, engineering resins and plastics, composites (including a new section on nanocomposites), emulsions, coatings and adhesives, and high performance polymers. The emphasis in this chapter is on applications, particularly where more than one specimen preparation method or microscopy technique is used.
Chapter 6 is newly named for this edition, "Emerging techniques in polymer micros­ copy." The change is to indicate that the chapter includes both techniques that have been
recently developed and those which are not new but which have not yet been regularly applied to polymer materials. These techniques include optical, electron and scanning probe microscopy techniques. In many of these fields the techniques are still developing very rapidly and thus future improvement in practice and understanding is likely over the coming years. Chapter 7 describes how the various microscopies and other analytical techniques for investigating polymer structure should be considered together as a system for problem solving.
The selection of the authors for this text came from a desire for a comprehensive review of polymer microscopy with emphasis on methods and techniques rather than on the results obtained. The synergism provided by three authors with very different back­ grounds is important. One author (LCS) has an industrial focus and a background in chemistry, while another author (DTG) is in an academic environment with a background in polymer physics. A third author (GFM), added for this edition, is a chemist with an industrial focus, and a specialist in SPM. The major contribution of David Grubb and
Greg Meyers has been in Chapters 2, 3 and 6. Linda Sawyer has been responsible for Chapters 1,4,5 and 7, with input from her coauthors.