The Science and Engineering of Materials

Book Preface

When the relationships between the structure, properties, and processing of materials are fully understood and exploited, materials become enabling—they are transformed from stuff, the raw materials that nature gives us, to things, the products and technologies that we develop as engineers. Any technologist can find materials properties in a book or search databases for a material that meets design specifications, but the ability to innovate and to incorporate materials safely in a design is rooted in an understanding of how to manipulate materials properties and functionality through the control of materials structure and processing techniques The objective of this textbook, then, is to describe the foundations and applications of materials science for college-level engineering students as predicated upon the structure-processing-properties paradigm.

The challenge of any textbook is to provide the proper balance of breadth and depth for the subject at hand, to provide rigor at the appropriate level, to provide meaningful examples and up to date content, and to stimulate the intellectual excitement of the reader. Our goal here is to provide enough science so that the reader may understand basic materials phenomena, and enough engineering to prepare a wide range of students for competent professional practice.