Book excerpt: This text has been shaped by the editor's experiences on task forces set up to investigate major explosives incidents and related civil and criminal proceedings. Chapters cover methods, applications, quality control, and significance of forensic chemistry, aircraft sabotage investigation, forensic pathology, and presentation of expert testimony. Contributors provide descriptions of the physics and chemistry of explosions and explosives, the detection of hidden explosives, and the procedures carried out at the scenes of gas explosions in buildings. Experienced professionals from industry, government, and the medical and legal professionals provide accounts of the developments and techniques in each of their subject areas.