Book excerpt: Advances in High Temperature Chemistry, Volume 1 describes the complexities and special and changing characteristics of high temperature chemistry. After providing a brief definition of high temperature chemistry, this nine-chapter book goes on describing the experiments and calculations of diatomic transition metal molecules, as well as the advances in applied wave mechanics that may contribute to an understanding of the bonding, structure, and spectra of the molecules of high temperature interest. The next chapter provides a summary of gaseous ternary compounds of the alkali metals used in high temperature chemistry. This topic is followed by discussions on the thermochemical properties of some simple solids in terms of valence states of the metallic elements and of the electrons in metals, on anions, and in aqueous solutions. Other chapters are concerned with the stepwise bond dissociation energies in a number of polyvalent metal fluorides and the unique possibilities for chemical syntheses, which are available through high temperature species. The final chapters are devoted to the techniques, temperature ranges, and accuracy of high temperature calorimetry. These chapters also include surveys on the nature of thermal plasmas for high temperature chemistry. This book is of benefit to high temperature chemists and specialized engineers.