This unique publication summarises fifty years of Russian research on shock compression of condensed matter using chemical and nuclear explosions. This information, and the equations of state derived from it, have important applications in physics, materials science and engineering. An introductory chapter describes the importance of Russian experiments in a global context. The second chapter describes the experimental devices used. Following chapters summarise the results of experiments on pure metals, metal alloys and compounds, minerals, rocks, organic solids and liquids. The book covers experiments with pressures ranging from 2.5 GPa to 1 TPa using chemical explosives in laboratory conditions and to 10 TPa in underground nuclear tests. Attention is given to theoretical aspects, experimental problems, and data analysis. The data in this book are quite unique as, with the cessation of large scale underground nuclear tests, it will be some time before similar pressures can be generated by alternative means. This book will be of interest to condensed matter physicists, material scientists, earth scientists and astrophysicists.
