This is the fourth volume of the handbook <IT>Thermal Stresses</IT>. Following the principles established when the first volume was published in 1986, the fourth volume consists of six separate chapters prepared by specialists in the field. Each chapter is devoted to a different topic in the area of Thermal Stresses. Many results have been published for the first time in <IT>Thermal Stresses IV</IT>. The exposition of the material is on the state-of-the art level, which should be appropriate for graduate students, researchers, and engineers specializing in the field of stress analysis. In most cases the material is presented with some historical perspective.<P>A large number of references provided will allow the readers to augment their knowledge, after studying a particular chapter.