Norton, M. Grant

PERSONAL:

Education: Imperial College, London, Ph.D., 1989.

ADDRESSES:

Office—School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, P.O. Box 642920, Pullman, WA 99164-2920. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Washington State University, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Pullman, WA, faculty member, 1991—.

WRITINGS:

(With C. Suryanarayana) X-Ray Diffraction: A Practical Approach, Plenum Press (New York, NY), 1998.

(With C. Barry Cater) Ceramic Materials: Science and Engineering, Springer (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor, with T.D. Pounds, D.N. McIlroy, and L. Wang, to Handbook of Nanoceramics and Their Based Nanodevices, American Science Publishers, 2007. Contributor of papers and articles to journals, including Applied Physics Letters, Nanotechnology, Journal of Materials Research, Nano Letters, and Journal of Materials Education.

SIDELIGHTS:

Professor M. Grant Norton is a specialist in mechanical and materials engineering who teaches at Washington State University. His works X-Ray Diffraction: A Practical Approach and Ceramic Materials: Science and Engineering instruct students on techniques of design and analysis that can help them better understand the materials with which they work. X-Ray Diffraction explains the principles and ideas behind the process of material analysis through the use of diffraction in electron microscopy. The theory is that when a beam consisting of electrons (rather than a standard beam of light) is aimed at a material specimen, some of the electrons in the beam will be slowed by interaction with electrons present in the specimen itself. As the electrons are slowed down, they release energy in the form of x-radiation. By measuring the ways in which the x-radiation is reflected or absorbed, material engineers and students can gain valuable information about the chemical composition of the specimen. X-Ray Diffraction is, according to a synopsis posted on the Springer Web site, "the only book available to combine both theoretical and practical aspects of x-ray diffraction."

Ceramic Materials is an introduction to one of the fastest-growing fields of modern engineering. Traditional ceramics, familiar to all, includes tiling used in buildings (such as that found in flooring, wall tiles, or roofing tiles), the common brick, and piping used to carry sewage, as well as pottery, dinnerware, and porcelain. Modern ceramics perform a much greater variety of functions. When combined with carbon or nitrogen, they can serve as abrasives to be used in cleaning. Uranium must be combined with oxygen and held in a ceramic matrix before it can be processed into fuel rods for use in power plants. Ceramics are also important in the manufacture of microchips and other electronic components, including capacitors and transducers. Several different ceramics, when bound together with metals, act as semiconductors, and some even show promise for use as superconductors—which might someday be the basis for superfast computers. Fuel cells, which are being developed for possible use in automobiles, can be made from a ceramic matrix called zirconium dioxide. People may even someday drive cars whose engines are ceramic rather than metal; ceramic engines can operate at much higher temperatures than can metal engines, making them many times more efficient. In addition to its value for students learning about materials engineering, Ceramic Materials, according to a synopsis posted on the Springer Web site, "serves as a comprehensive reference for researchers in materials science."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, February, 1999, R. Rudman, review of X-Ray Diffraction: A Practical Approach, p. 1094; October, 2007, H. Giesche, review of Ceramic Materials: Science and Engineering, p. 314.

ONLINE

School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University,http://www.mme.wsu.edu/ (February 18, 2008), "M. Grant Norton."

Springer Web site,http://www.springer.com/ (February 18, 2008), synopses of X-Ray Diffraction: A Practical Approach and Ceramic Materials: Science and Engineering.