I am grateful to Cambridge University Press for allowing me to make some comments about Roger Reed's new textbook The Superalloys: Fundamentals and Applications. Nickel-based superalloys represent a very important class of engineering material, finding widespread application for example in critical components within the gas turbine engines used for jet propulsion and electricity generation. This is due to their superior mechanical properties that are maintained to elevated temperatures. Indeed, new classes of superalloy are continually being sought by gas turbine manufacturers around for the world for applications in the hottest parts of the engine. This is because higher temperatures result in improvements to the efficiency of the engine and therefore lower fuel burn. Engine performance is a major factor in any power plant competition, which helps to explain why all the engine manufacturers spend so much money developing future generations of superalloys.

The author has provided us with a textbook covering both the fundamentals and applications of superalloy technology. This is a significant and unique achievement, especially given the broad range of subject matter dealt with. In Chapter 1, the requirement for materials capable of operating at elevated temperatures is introduced along with the historical development of the nickel-based superalloys and their emergence as materials for high-temperature applications.