The book charts how reliability engineering has moved from the use of sometimes arbitrary standards to an empirical scientific approach of understanding operating conditions, failure mechanisms, the need for testing for a more realistic characterisation and, new for the second edition, includes the monitoring of performance/robustness in the field. Reliability Characterisation of Electrical and Electronic Systems brings together a number of experts and key players in the discipline to concisely present the fundamentals and background to reliability theory, elaborate on the current thinking and developments behind reliability characterisation, and give a detailed account of emerging issues across a wide range of applications. The second edition has a new section titled Reliability Condition Monitoring and Prognostics for Specific Application which provides a guide to critical issues in key industrial sectors such as automotive and aerospace. There are also new chapters on areas of growing importance such as reliability methods in high-temperature electronics and reliability and testing of electric aircraft power systems.