This is a practical textbook written for use by engineers scientists andtechnicians. It is not intended to be a rigorous scientific treatment of thesubject mate... » 

This is a practical textbook written for use by engineers scientists andtechnicians. It is not intended to be a rigorous scientific treatment of thesubject material as this would fill several volumes. Rather it introduces thereader to the fundamentals of the subject material and provides sufficientreferences for an indepth study of the subject by the interested technologist.The author has a lifetime teaching credential in the California CommunityCollege System. Also he has taught technical courses with the American VacuumSociety for about 35 years. Students attending many of these classes havebackgrounds varying from highschool graduates to Ph.D.s in technicaldisciplines. This is an extremely difficult class profile to teach. This bookstill endeavors to reach this same audience. Basic algebra is required tomaster most of the material. But the calculus is used in derivation of some ofthe equations. The author risks use of the first person I instead of theauthor and you instead of the reader. Both are thought to be in poor tastewhen writing for publication in the scientific community. However I am writingthis book for you because the subject is exciting and I enjoy teaching youperhaps something new. The book is written more in the vein of a oneononediscussion with you rather than the author lecturing to the reader. There areanecdotes and examples of some failures and successes I have had over the lastfortyfive years in vacuum related activities Ill try not to understateeither.Lastly there are a few equations which if memorised will help you as a vacuumtechnician. There are less than a dozen equations and half that many rules ofthumb tomemorize which will be drawn on time an again in designing operatingand troubleshooting any vacuum system. «