scope:

How new are the high T_c superconductors, as compared to the conventional low T_c ones? In what sense are these oxides different from regular metals in their normal state? How different is the mechanism for high T_c superconductivity from the well-known electron-phonon interaction that explains so well superconductivity in metals and alloys? What are the implications of the new features of the high T_c oxides for their practical applications? This interesting book aims to provide some answers to those questions, drawing particularly on similarities between the high T_c oxides and granular superconductors, which also present a short coherence length and a small superfluid density.