The recently established Institute of Conservation Science (ICS) celebrated its formation with a conference held in Edinburgh in May 2002, attended by conservation scientists and conservators from European, American and Australian museums, archives, universities and research institutes. The energy of formation of ICS, supplemented by support from the National Museums of Scotland, Action G8 of COST (European Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technological Research) and Historic Scotland, has resulted in this fully refereed publicaiton of 42 papers which present current research, strategies for cultural heritage management and risk assessment, case histories and reviews. The role of conservation science in the understanding of material properties, the selection of conservation treatments and the evaluation of past treatments is common to all. The book is divided into three sections. The first, Preventive Conservation, includes contributions on the deterioration of historic textiles; the movement of painted wooden panels; dimensional changes in bark paintings; showcase environments; particles and dust in museums etc. This is followed by the section on Conservation Methods, which includes laser cleaning; chromatography; adhesives for textiles; mortars for mosaics and corrosion inhibitors for iron artefacts. In the final section, Non-Destructive Testing, the reader is taken into a world of acronyms - XRF, SEM, LA-ICPMS, PIXE, THM-GCMS, ATR, CPSEM-EDX - while some more easily written techniques including dendrochronology, colorimetry, eddy current testing, accelerated light testing, neutron radiography etc. are discussed. These techniques are applied to a range of materials - from Rembrandt to Roman coins; from aero engines to alkyd resins; from hats to hallmarks; manuscripts to mercury. This volume will be appreciated by all those interested in the examination of works of art and objects in collections, their interaction with their present and past environments and the quest for improved methods of preserving them. Papers from the conference held in Edinburgh, Scotland 22-24 May 2002.

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