Preface to Second Edition My concept for this book,namely to show the connection be- tween the technical and the cultural,economic,ecological,and societal aspects of materials science seems to have been realized judging from the enthusiastic reception of readers coming not only from the hard sciences,but also from the humanities and medicine.Indeed,the first printing sold out less than two years after publication,which made reprinting necessary and gave me the opportunity to make some changes and additions.The com- ments of many students who took a course based on this book and by colleagues from all over the world confirmed my hunch that many individuals would be interested not only in the phys- ical and technological aspects of materials but also in how ma- terials and the goods which were made of them shaped the de- velopment of mankind.By relating history and technology in this text many students were disabused of the idea that "most every- thing was invented in the past hundred years"(and in the USA). When contemplating a second edition,I withstood the temp- tation to substantially expand the book by including major new topics and a more detailed treatment of several subjects.If sub- stantial in-depth treatment of a given topic is wanted,reference should be made to one of the many encyclopedic materials sci- ence books that have two or three times more pages.One should realize,however,that the contents of these larger books cannot be covered in a customary three-credit semester course.This ne- cessitates that each teacher select those topics which he/she deems to be most important,that is,with which he/she is most familiar.I have chosen to restrict the presented material and the depth of its treatment to that which is realistically digestible in an introductory course in materials science without overbur- dening the students with too much detail.Clearly,this text is not meant to be encyclopedic,but instead aims to whet the appetite of its readers and to inspire them to further explore the proper-
Preface to Second Edition My concept for this book, namely to show the connection between the technical and the cultural, economic, ecological, and societal aspects of materials science seems to have been realized judging from the enthusiastic reception of readers coming not only from the hard sciences, but also from the humanities and medicine. Indeed, the first printing sold out less than two years after publication, which made reprinting necessary and gave me the opportunity to make some changes and additions. The comments of many students who took a course based on this book and by colleagues from all over the world confirmed my hunch that many individuals would be interested not only in the physical and technological aspects of materials but also in how materials and the goods which were made of them shaped the development of mankind. By relating history and technology in this text many students were disabused of the idea that “most everything was invented in the past hundred years” (and in the USA). When contemplating a second edition, I withstood the temptation to substantially expand the book by including major new topics and a more detailed treatment of several subjects. If substantial in-depth treatment of a given topic is wanted, reference should be made to one of the many encyclopedic materials science books that have two or three times more pages. One should realize, however, that the contents of these larger books cannot be covered in a customary three-credit semester course. This necessitates that each teacher select those topics which he/she deems to be most important, that is, with which he/she is most familiar. I have chosen to restrict the presented material and the depth of its treatment to that which is realistically digestible in an introductory course in materials science without overburdening the students with too much detail. Clearly, this text is not meant to be encyclopedic, but instead aims to whet the appetite of its readers and to inspire them to further explore the proper-
viii Preface to the Second Edition ties and applications of metals,alloys,ceramics,plastics,and electronic materials by means of easily understandable explana- tions and entertaining historical facts.It is also intended to raise the readers'awareness of their obligations to society as practic- ing engineers and scientists. What has been changed compared to the first edition?Natu- rally,there is always room for improvement.Accordingly,a large number of additions,corrections,and clarifications have been made on almost each page.Furthermore,the treatment of "high- tech ceramics"has been substantially expanded(mostly at the suggestions of my colleagues)by including topics such as silicon nitride ceramics,transformation-toughened zirconia,alumina, ultra-hard ceramics,and bioceramics.A separate section on com- posite materials has been added,including fiber-reinforced composites,particular composites,and laminar composites.A section on advanced fabrics seemed to be of interest to the read- ers.Most of all,however,Chapter 18 (Economic and Environ- mental Considerations)has been rewritten and expanded in many places by updating the statistical information on prices of materials,production figures,world reserves,consumption(par- ticularly oil),recycling (particularly plastics,paper,household batteries,electronic scrap,automobiles),the possible use of "bio- diesel"(rape plant oil),waste prevention,lead-free solder,energy savings through recycling,efficient design,and stability of ma- terials.The iron and steel production statistics were updated in Chapter 7,and new figures on gold production and consumption were included in Chapter 17.Finally,considerations on new trends such as "nanomaterials by severe plastic deformation,"a rendition of Moore's law,and more philosophical remarks on the expected ethical behavior of engineers have been incorporated into Chapter 19. A few readers have suggested that I should provide the com- plete solutions for the homework problems.I am against this. The exercises should be challenges(some more,some less).Giv- ing the detailed solution of the problems (rather than just the numerical results)would tempt many students not to work the problems and in turn would deprive them of an important learn- ing experience and the satisfaction of having succeeded through perseverance.I can assure the readers,however,from my own experience that all problems are solvable. Those readers who like interactive communication and ani- mated visualizations by using the computer are directed to the post scriptum of the Preface to the First Edition that follows. My thanks go to many of my students who,through their kind words of praise and their challenging questions,helped me to
ties and applications of metals, alloys, ceramics, plastics, and electronic materials by means of easily understandable explanations and entertaining historical facts. It is also intended to raise the readers’ awareness of their obligations to society as practicing engineers and scientists. What has been changed compared to the first edition? Naturally, there is always room for improvement. Accordingly, a large number of additions, corrections, and clarifications have been made on almost each page. Furthermore, the treatment of “hightech ceramics” has been substantially expanded (mostly at the suggestions of my colleagues) by including topics such as silicon nitride ceramics, transformation-toughened zirconia, alumina, ultra-hard ceramics, and bioceramics. A separate section on composite materials has been added, including fiber-reinforced composites, particular composites, and laminar composites. A section on advanced fabrics seemed to be of interest to the readers. Most of all, however, Chapter 18 (Economic and Environmental Considerations) has been rewritten and expanded in many places by updating the statistical information on prices of materials, production figures, world reserves, consumption (particularly oil), recycling (particularly plastics, paper, household batteries, electronic scrap, automobiles), the possible use of “biodiesel” (rape plant oil), waste prevention, lead-free solder, energy savings through recycling, efficient design, and stability of materials. The iron and steel production statistics were updated in Chapter 7, and new figures on gold production and consumption were included in Chapter 17. Finally, considerations on new trends such as “nanomaterials by severe plastic deformation,” a rendition of Moore’s law, and more philosophical remarks on the expected ethical behavior of engineers have been incorporated into Chapter 19. A few readers have suggested that I should provide the complete solutions for the homework problems. I am against this. The exercises should be challenges (some more, some less). Giving the detailed solution of the problems (rather than just the numerical results) would tempt many students not to work the problems and in turn would deprive them of an important learning experience and the satisfaction of having succeeded through perseverance. I can assure the readers, however, from my own experience that all problems are solvable. Those readers who like interactive communication and animated visualizations by using the computer are directed to the post scriptum of the Preface to the First Edition that follows. My thanks go to many of my students who, through their kind words of praise and their challenging questions, helped me to viii Preface to the Second Edition