-- I am familiar with the first edition of the book and have used it as recommended reading in one of my courses. Dr. N. Chawla is a recognized authority in the field of computational materials science and has conducted extensive work in the area of image based finite element analysis.
-- Metal matrix composites field is currently underserved for textbooks and reference books. A revised second edition will be great for students.
-- This will be one of the best books in the field, even better than the author’s earlier book on composites.
-- The strength in this book pertains to the balanced nature taken toward elucidation of the subject for both students and professionals to learn from on a convenient basis. Unlike other books in the general field, this book is also a one-stop-pick-up-all-you-can tool for anyone doing work related to the field - this contributes to its high rank in the field, also because of the authors' significant professional reputations in the field.
-- This book is very thorough. Many books will not go into detail about crystallography, dislocation types, other basic materials science concepts, and assume the audience knows or if they don’t, they will look things up. Students (undergrad and grad), post docs, researchers, and professors would all benefit from this book.
-- The book contains a lot of information. In my opinion, the work ranks among the best in the field.