Van Vlack Elements of Material Science

This classic textbook, Elements of Materials Science and Engineering, is the sixth in a series of texts that have pioneered in the educational approach to materials science engineering and have literally brought the evolving concept of the discipline to over one million students around the world.

The major modification to this edition has been in the attention to the commonalty found within the materials field, in which structures and properties are considered generically for all materials rather than categorically by material classes-metals, polymers, ceramics, and semiconductors. This pedagogical change reflects the growing coherence and overall importance of materials science engineering and thereby establishes a sound foundation for later courses dealing in greater detail with specific kinds of materials. The sixth edition represents a definite advance in providing a fresh access to modern materials science engineering, now portrayed as an integrated field instead of merely the sum of its parts.

This book has been rewritten to match more closely the emphasis on the structure/properties/performance interplay that is developing in all aspects of technical materials -- both in universities and in industry. The book's new organization emphasizes the generic nature of engineering materials in phenomenon and function and acknowledges traditional classes of materials in the process. Coverage of frontier areas have been added including: toughened ceramics, new polymers, high-temperature superconductors, superhard magnets, and other fiber-optic glasses.