Editorial

The papers presented in this special edition of HERON were selected from the Proceedings of the 7th Euroseminar on Microscopy Applied to Building Materials, held at Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, from June 29 to July 2, 1999. They address the results of the work completed by various experts in the field of building materials from the Delft-based TNO Building and Construction Research, Delft University of Technology and Eindhoven University of Technology. The main focus of these papers is the relationship between various research techniques of investigating building and construction materials with emphasis on microscopical techniques. These selected papers, as well as the entire proceedings, offer both a comprehensive reference and one of the best authoritative set of information available of the know-how and experience in the field of application of microscopy to the study of building (and construction) materials. The proceedings 1, in particular is meant to serve as a contribution to the existing working tools for solving problems in the field of building and construction materials.

On behalf of the Organising Committee of the 7th Euroseminar, I wish to thank the Editorial Board of HERON for honouring our request to publish these selected papers. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the authors of these selected papers for the time taken to produce their scientific contributions which, I believe will make fine additions to these new and dynamic fields of microscopy applied to building materials. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the support accorded me by my colleagues and my institute, TNO Building and Construction Research during all phases of the organisation of the 7th Euroseminar.

Joe A. Larbi
TNO Building and Construction Research

1 Copies of the proceedings can be obtained from the Materals Science Section of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands.