Book excerpt: Explaining principles underlying the main micromachining practices currently being used and developed in industrial countries around the world, Micromachining of Engineering Materials outlines advances in material removal that have led to micromachining, discusses procedures for precise measurement, includes molecular-level theories, describes vaporizing workpiece material with spark discharges and photon light energy, examines mask-based and maskless anodic dissolution processes, investigates nanomachining by firing ions at surfaces to remove groups of atoms, analyzes the conversion of kinetic to thermal energy through a controlled fine-focused beam of electrons, and more.