Coal : Elsevier : 9780444895868 : 0444895868 : 03 Nov 1993 : The first edition of the book Coal: Typology - Chemistry - Physics - Constitution appeared in 1961. In 1981 a new edition was published in which the text was unaltered proving that after 20 years the book was still considered a standard work in its field. The enormous activities in the 80's in the field of coal conversion processes (especially gasification and liquefaction) and the equally amazing development of instrumental techniques of observation and analysis prompted a complete revision and update of the book. The present edition contains 1000 pages compared to the 514 pages of its predecessors of 1961 and 1981. The number of illustrations has greatly increased from 253 to 574 and that of the tables from 76 to 208. These figures amply testify to the increase in coal research. Compared with its former editions, the present book treats a considerable number of new subjects: modern concepts of geotectonics and of organic g