This book covers a wide range of lectures given at the Short Summer Course cel ebrated at La Laguna University about the new trends in the modern character ization methods: chemical, microscopies, thermal, X-ray, resonance and nuclear methos for ceramics, glasses and related materials. This book also looks also at the zeolite thermal characterization methods as well as the new approaches in new microscopies for the investigation of surfaces in materials. Nowadays is generally accepted in the scientific community that characteri zation methods must be used in research from a complementary point of view. The concious application of several characterization techniques in the same ma terial is very useful not only for obtaining a best knowledgement of the material characteristics, but also to answer scientific and technical questions about the processing and properties of final products. Whereas the introducing chapter in chemical analysis of rare earths the several methods here described looked as complementary methods which can be used in the investigation of ceramics and glasses. The major part of the book is devoted to fundamentals and applications of the techniques with a direct style which makes the book easy to read, being particularly useful for anyone beginning in research and applications of ceram ics, glasses and glass-ceramics. Each chapter include clear figures and additional references for those interested in obtaining a depth knowledgement in different techniques.

1. Rare Earth Elements: Applications and Determination

2. Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Applications to the Study of Ordered and Disordered Conducting Solid Surfaces
3. Basis and Applications of Convergent Beam Electron Diffraction (CBED) for the Investigation of Phases in Ceramics and Glass-Ceramics
4. Basis and Applications of High Resolution Electron Microscopy (HREM) for the Characterization of Ceramics and Glass-Ceramics
5. Applications of Differential Scanning Calorimetry for the Study of Transformation Processes in Quenched Alloys
6. Use of Thermal Analysis in Zeolite Research and Application
7. Viscous Flow of Glass Forming Liquids: Experimental Techniques for the High Viscosity Range
8. Diffusion Structural Analysis in the Characterization of Inorganic Materials
9. Texture Determination by Using X ray Diffraction
10. Recent Advances in X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analysis
11. Mössbauer Spectroscopy Applied to Inorganic Materials
12. Neutron Diffraction in Amorphous Structures.