ABSTRACT
The approach taken in this book assumes that while some readers will already be expert in many aspects of problem solving, others will either be novices or at an early stage on the learning curve. For the latter readership, this chapter sets out the strategic and tactical issues of problem solving, with the focus mainly on traditional surface and interface analysis, but with additional emphasis on the emerging and important eld concerned with science and technology on the nanoscale. The successive stages that go to make up the problem-solving route are described together with the associated thought processes, many of which are intuitive for the more experienced practitioners.
