Prof. Hem Shanker Ray obtained his B.Tech. (Hons) degree in Metallurgical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 1962, and his Master's degree Master of Applied Science (M.A. Sc.) (1963) and Ph.D. (l966) degrees in Metallurgy at the University of Toronto, Canada.

His areas of interest include thermal analysis, kinetics, extractive metallurgy, energy and R&D administration, and he has published about 450 papers in reviewed journals and conference proceedings, 7 textbooks, 5 popular-science and other books and some 60 popular science articles. He has also edited 14 conference proceedings and written 50 technical reports as well as numerous non-technical articles, editorials, and fiction works in English and Bengali. He holds several patents including 2 in the U.S.

Prof. Ray has received several awards in recognition of his work, including the National Metallurgists Day Award, G.D. Birla Award and 2 Kamani Gold Medals from the Indian Institute of Metals (IIM). Recently, he was conferred honorary membership of the IIM, and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from I.I.T. Kharagpur in 2014. He has worked for several companies and R&D laboratories as a consultants or member of boards/research councils, and is associated with several professional bodies andwas president of the Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers and Indian Thermal Analysis Society. He is a vice president of the Indian Association for Productivity, Quality & Reliability, Kolkata, president of the Millennium Institute of Energy and Environment Management and editor of several journals. He was honorable director of Ramakrishna Vivekananda Mission Institute of Advanced Studies and president of CSIR Pensioners Welfare Society (CPWSc), Kolkata.

Dr. Saradindukumar Ray, B.E. (1968), Ph.D. (1985) served the Department of Atomic Energy during 1972-2007, and was head of the Materials Technology Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research from 1998. During September 2010 to May 2017, he served as the Ministry of Steel Chair Professor, Metallurgical & Materials Engineering Department, Jadavpur University. His areas of research interest are deformation and fracture, deformation processing and welding metallurgy. He served as the chief editorof the Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals from 1996 to 2003. He is a recipient of the National Metallurgist's Day Best Metallurgist Award, and MRSI Lecture Medal from the Materials Research Society of India. He is a fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, fellow (life) of the Indian Institute of Metals, and a member of several other professional societies connected with materials research and development. He has published more than 100 research papers in various journals and peer-reviewed conference proceedings and made numerous contributions in the form of keynote lectures, invited papers, technical presentations and reports.

Includes many step-by-step tutorials to help the reader learn quickly

Presents a one-of-a-kind comprehensive resource on metallurgical kinetics

Provides numerous examples and illustrations for better understanding

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Empirical and Semi-empirical Kinetics.- Chapter 3: Chemically Controlled Reactions.- Chapter 4: Diffusion Through Product Layer.- Chapter 5: Fluid Phase Mass Transfer.- Chapter 6: Reaction Between Two Fluids.- Chapter 7: Nucleation and Growth.- Chapter 8: Non-ideal Conditions and Complex Reactions.- Chapter 9: Non-isothermal Kinetics.- Chapter 10: Thermal Analysis Techniques.- Chapter 11: Analysis of Kinetic Data for Practical Applications.- Chapter 12: Kinetics of Plastic Deformation.- Chapter 13: Kinetics of Creep Fracture.