In 1961 Cahn started editing the monumental work "Physical Metallurgy, first published in 1965. which went through four editions, the last two edited in collaboration with Peter Haasen of Göttingen. In 1986 Cahn, Haasen and Edward Kramer started work on a new series of multi-authored books, "Materials Science and Technology: A Comprehensive Treatment" which eventually contained 20 volumes, republished in 2005. Two further series of books on solid materials were edited, the Cambridge Solid State Science Series from 1992 and the Pergamon Materials Series from 1992 onwards. In 1998 he was one of six editors in chief for Elsevier's 11-volume Encyclopedia of Materials series.