  An overview of the recent progress in the studies of nuclear
multifragmentation is presented. Special emphasis is put on the exploration of
isotopic trends in nuclear multifragmentation and the possibilities to extract
physical information related to the nuclear equation of state. Relevant
experimental methods of isotope identification are described. The isotopic
composition of fragments is used to extract the values of thermodynamical
observables of the system undergoing multifragmentation such as temperature and
chemical potentials. Various methods for extraction of thermodynamical
variables are analyzed. An overview of methods of isotope thermometry,
exploring the sensitivity of various yield ratios to temperature, is presented.
An exponential scaling of relative isotopic yields from reactions with
different neutron content, called isoscaling, is used to explore the evolution
of the isospin degrees of freedom of the system. Finally, the nuclear equation
of state and the isospin-asymmetric liquid-gas phase transition in the nuclear
matter are discussed.
