Book excerpt: This book presents reliable, well-tested, up-to-date methods of synthesizing the major iron oxides. Such a collection is invaluable since iron oxides play an important role in numerous disciplines, including chemistry, soil science, medicine, corrosion science and aquatic and environmental chemistry. The emphasis is on techniques and apparatus that are readily accessible to the scientist. For students, the sections dealing with potential sources of error should prove extremely useful. Techniques for iron oxide characterization are also described in detail. Special Feature: color plates illustrating how the color of iron oxides varies with crystal structure, particle size, and metal substitution.