As sintering applications march toward a $30 billion global business, the models for sintering have progressed, but generally follow behind observation. Documentation of the steps needed to build to a quantitative and predictive theory are often missed. Sintering: From Empirical Observations to Scientific Principles partitions sintering applications and observations to show critical turning points required to establish modern sintering as a predictive science. This book, written by the most cited author in his field, is laced with people, organizations, critical steps, and important formulations in a mixture of history, personalities, and applications. Exploring how insights in seemingly unrelated fields sparked progress, it is also a teaching tool to show where there is success, where there are problems, and how to organize teams to leapfrog to new applications or plateaus of use. Randall German's Sintering: From Empirical Observations to Scientific Principles is a platform for directly addressing the critical control parameters in these new research and development efforts.