This text provides an understanding of the relationship between structure, processing, and properties of materials. By selecting the appropriate topics from this wealth of material, instructors can emphasize metals, provide a general overview of materials, concentrate on mechanical behavior, or focus on physical properties. Since the book has more material than is needed for a one-semester course, students will also have a useful reference for subsequent courses in manufacturing, materials, design, or materials selection.
An introductory textbook on materials science. Readers should have a strong background already in basic chemistry, physics, and algebra. The book devotes approximately 80% to metals (especially iron and its alloys), 18% to ceramics and polymers, and 2% to concrete and wood. Throughout the book, emphasis is on microstructure -- how the arrangements of atoms account for physical properties. I would not recommend this book for its pedagogy; there is a great deal of information in it, but it is not presented to make it easy to learn (e.g., little if any repetition of key points). Its best value is probably as a refresher for material one has learned elsewhere. The frequency of typos is far greater than I can recall ever having seen in any published work; some of them so blatant that it is obvious that the book received little if any proofreading.