Phase Transitions - 1973 is a collection of the proceedings of the Conference on Phase Transitions and Their Applications in Materials Science, held at Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, on May 23-25, 1973. The papers explore some of the practical applications of solid-state phase transitions and consequent precursor property modifications in metals, ceramics, glasses, polymers, macromolecules, and biological systems.Comprised of 41 chapters, this book begins with an introduction to applications of phase transitions in materials science, followed by a syncretist classification of phase transitions. Subsequent chapters discuss phase transitions in materials such as liquid crystals, PLZT ceramics, disordered semiconductors, silver iodide single crystals, and aluminum alloys. The structural aspects of phase transitions are also considered, along with the statistical mechanics of glass transition; thermal expansion and phase transitions in silica; phase transformation of Fe-Mn alloys induced by shock loading; and order-disorder transitions in biopolymers. This monograph will be of interest to physicists and materials scientists.