Thermoelectric and related transport properties of metals have been a source of information and, also, exasperation to physicists for over a century. Perhaps the principal reasons for interest in these phenomena are their sensitivity to composition, structure and external fields and, until fairly recently, the distressing fact that often even gross experimental features such as the sign of the thermopower eluded theoretical understanding. During the past two decades many of the previously perplexing aspects of thermoelectricity have yielded to more sophisticated theoretical treat ment. As a...

The first International Conference on Thermoelectric Properties of Metallic Conductors was held at Michigan State University on August 10-12, 1977. The conference was sponsored and supported by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research and the Ford Motor Company. Although the topic may appear, at first glance, rather narrow and of limited interest, it impacts significantly on numerous fields of research, in each instance providing a unique and fru- ful technique for securing important data that is frequently difficult to obtain by other means. Thus, though...