Book excerpt: BETTER BATTERIES Smaller, lighter, more powerful, and longer-lasting: the better battery is a much-sought commodity in the increasingly portable, ever-more-wireless world of electronics. Powering laptops, handhelds, cell phones, pagers, watches, medical devices, and many other modern necessitites, batteries are crucial to today's cutting-edge technologies. BEST CHOICE FOR BATTERY DESIGN AND EVALUATION This definitive guide from top international experts provides the best technical guidance you can find on designing winning products and selecting the most appropriate batteries for particular applications. HANDBOOK OF BATTERIES covers the field from the tiniest batteries yet devised for life-critical applications to the large batteries required for electric and hybrid electric vehicles. EXPERT INFORMATION Edited by battery experts David Linden, battery consultant and editor of the first two editions, and Dr. Thomas Reddy, a pioneer in the lithium battery field, HANDBOOK OF BATTERIES updates you on current methods, helps you solve problems, and makes comparisons easier. Essential for professionals, valuable to hobbyists, and preferred as a consumer guide for battery purchasers, this the THE source for battery information. The only comprehensive reference in the field, HANDBOOK OF BATTERIES has more authoritative information than any other source: * Authored by a team of leading battery technology experts from around the globe * Covers the characteristics, properties, and performance of every major battery type * Entirely revised, including new information on Lithium Ion and Large Nickel Metal Hydride batteries, and portable fuel cells. This one-of-a-kind HANDBOOK helps you: * Apply leading-edge technologies, materials, and methods in new designs and products * Predict battery performance under any conditions * Have all the needed data and equations at your fingertips