Book excerpt: Pioneered by the pharmaceutical industry and adapted for the purposes of materials science and engineering, the combinatorial method is now widely considered a watershed in the accelerated discovery, development, and optimization of new materials. Combinatorial Materials Synthesis reveals the gears behind combinatorial materials chemistry and thin-film technology, and discusses the prime techniques involved in synthesis and property determination for experimentation with a variety of materials. Funneling historic innovations into one source, the book explores core approaches to synthesis and rapid characterization techniques for work with combinatorial materials libraries.