One of my favorite parts of the Sunday paper are the weekly New York Times best seller lists. (I’m partial to the nonfiction list.) I’ve been following the list since high school when I had a part-time job reshelving books in my town’s library .

The American Ceramic Society’s publishing partner, Wiley, also keeps a “best sellers” list. On the off chance that these are not on Sunday’s NYT list, I’m reporting the list here.

There are two types of books on the list—authored books and proceedings. Authored books make great reference books, for example the Bergeron and Risbud book, “Introduction to Phase Equilibria in Ceramics” is a great how-to book on phase diagrams. If you need to read a phase diagram only a few times a year—or need to make a subtle interpretation—having this book on your shelf will make your life much easier. Or, if all heads turn to you to explain why something failed, Freiman’s “The Fracture of Brittle Materials: Testing and Analysis” will help you provide the answer.

Perhaps, something more general may be just what your bookshelf needs, though. For example, you may find it helpful to loan out Richerson’s “Magic of Ceramics” to help “lay” colleagues understand what engineered ceramics are and how they are used.

Aside from going to conferences, the Ceramic Transactions and Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceedings are the best way to stay abreast with what is new in your field. ACerS-Wiley just released Ceramic Transactions Vol. 239—the proceedings from the 2012 Materials Challenges for Alternative and Renewable Energy. Energy technology continues to be a national priority, and MCARE comprehensively covered the latest trends. Will it be a “Top 10” book for 2013? I will let you know.

And, remember, select ACerS–Wiley journal articles and book chapters are available for free through March 31!

Go to the ACerS–Wiley homepage for ordering information or to the individual links below.

ACerS-Wiley 2012 Best Sellers
1. Glass-Ceramic Technology, Second Edition, by W. Höland and G. Beall
2. Ceramics and Composites Processing Methods, edited by by N. Bansal and A. Boccaccini
3. Ceramic Integration and Joining Technologies: From Macro to Nanoscale, edited by M. Singh, et al.
4. Advanced Structural Ceramics, B. Basu and K. Balani
5. Advanced Biomaterials: Fundamentals, Processing, and Applications, by B. Basu et al.
6. The Fracture of Brittle Materials: Testing and Analysis, by S. Freiman and J. Mecholsky
7. Materials Challenges in Alternative and Renewable Energy: Ceramic Transactions Vol. 224 , edited by G. Wicks
8. Tribology of Ceramics and Composites: A Materials Science Perspective, by B. Basu and M. Kalin
9. The Magic of Ceramics, Second Edition, by D. Richerson 
10. Introduction to Phase Equilibria in Ceramics, by C. Bergeron and S. Risbud


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