Aside from R. P. Skripov's book of a quarter of a century ago, this is the only monograph dealing with "metastable liquids". Although Skripov's book was, in its time, an outstanding contribution, much has happened in the intervening years, and Debenedetti's modern presentation of the field is a timely and welcome arrival. In Skripov's time the focus in metastable liquids was mainly on the superheated variety. Since then an enormous interest in supercooled liquids and glasses and the glass transition has developed. Debenedetti's book encompasses both varieties of liquid, and much more.

To me, with my minimal knowledge of the natural and technological importance of metastable liquids, the first chapter of the book constitutes an amazing revelation. One learns that such liquids are fundamental to the survival of many plants and animals. Nature has invented antifreeze proteins that actually inhibit crystallization; that is, they do not merely depress the freezing point. The ascent of sap in a tree forms an example in which the freezing point is actually depressed by the action of "tension". Since tension is an acceptable thermodynamic parameter, the liquid under tension is not strictly metastable, but its structure cannot differ much from its truly metastable counterpart. In one of many technological examples, the plugging of natural gas pipes due to the formation of clathrate hydrates is avoided by developing and using chemical inhibitors that slow the kinetics of clathrate crystallization and act in much the same way as the antifreeze proteins found in fish. Many other examples quickly convince the reader of the importance of the field.

Chapter 2, combined with several appendices, is virtually a course in thermodynamics bearing the author's special insight into the subject, and anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of this subject can experience an extremely useful intermediate to advanced training by reading it carefully. Of special note are the sections on stability and its significance with respect to both metastable and unstable systems.

Chapter 3 deals with kinetics, and deeply with nucleation and spinodal decomposition. These are extremely difficult fields that are presently in a state of great flux, but the author provides an amazingly current and readable account of the subject in both gases and liquids, treating the formation of drops, bubbles, and crystals and replete with an exhaustive bibliography. Indeed, this chapter forms the best review that I know of, and the reader is strongly influenced to try his own hand at unraveling some of the fascinating mysteries that remain unsolved.

Chapter 4 focuses on supercooled liquids, and by an entirely natural sequence of exposition quickly moves into glasses and the glass transition. Again, the discussion and the bibliography are exhaustive but eminently readable. Both thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of the glass transition are dealt with, and there is a special treatment of "glassy water", a subject of ubiquitous importance. There is still no consensus on whether the glass transition is a truly thermodynamic or dynamic transition (or no transition at all - but merely a slowing down of kinetics). So here we are again at the frontier and there are fascinating problems to be solved. Among the tools that are discussed, again at a readable level, is the mode coupling theory.

The entire book is distinguished by the timeliness and exhaustiveness of its bibliography, which in itself represents a major contribution. Professor Debenedetti has provided a panoramic picture of the field while not compromising the details. The book should be extremely useful to researchers and students alike. It can serve as both a textbook and an up-to-date window on the state of the art in the field of metastable fluids.

I give this book a grade of "excellent" and I recommend it strongly.