Acronyms and Abbreviations in Natural Science and Technology / Akronyme und Abrreviata - Abkürzungen aus Naturwissenschaft und Technik. 4th expanded and revised edition. 214. 5 tabs. 283 p. Paper bound.

The language of modern science and engineering resorts increasingly to abbreviations, so called acronyms. Most of themare derived from English language expressions. Their use in professional publications expands. Often times, these abbreviations are used without prior explanation (a careless practice that should be discouraged by any editor). The enlarged and expanded 4th edition of this book compiles about 30,300 acronyms, abbreviations and meanings from the fields of: (1) Physical analytical methods, and equipment,(2) Preparation techniques, building units, and structures and(3) Crystals and materials. Explanations of the acronyms are provided in English and German. Some acronyms have more than one distinct meaning and in the literature, the explicit expressions are not always unique. For instance, instead of spectroscopy one frequently reads spectrometry as well as spectrography, or spectral analysis, too. The acronyms and abbreviations were compiled from the literature withoutconsidering priorities, or objections raised against some of them. Completeness can not be claimed, because every day, new acronyms are being created. It is the intention of the author to provide a practical and readily accessible guide to the user, who may be puzzled by the countless acronyms in scholarly literature. Compared to searching online for the meaning of an acronym, which often returns a flood of results,this book has the advantage of limiting explanations to those relevant to the three fields listed above.