Conservation Science: Papers from the Conference Held in Edinburgh, Scotland 22-24 May 2002

This refereed volume contains the proceedings of a conference ‘Conservation Science’ in Edinburgh in May 2002 -organised by the Institute of Conservation Science, COST Action G8 ‘Non-destructive Analysis and Testing of Museum Objects’ and the National Museums of Scotland. The book is divided into three sections. The first, Preventive Conservation, includes contributions on the deterioration of historic textiles; the movement of painted wooden panels; dimensional changes in bark paintings; showcase environments; particles and dust in museums etc. This is followed by the section on Conservation Methods, which includes laser cleaning; chromatography; adhesives for textiles; mortars for mosaics and corrosion inhibitors for iron artefacts. In the final section, Non-Destructive Testing, the reader is taken into a world of acronyms - XRF, SEM, LA-ICPMS, PIXE, THM-GCMS, ATR, CPSEM-EDX - while some more easily written techniques including dendrochronology, colorimetry, eddy current testing, accelerated light testing, neutron radiography etc. are discussed. These techniques are applied to a range of materials - from Rembrandt to Roman coins; from aero engines to alkyd resins; from hats to hallmarks; manuscripts to mercury.