Provides a concise introduction to various materials with broad day-to-day applications

Describes how the uses of certain materials were discovered and their importance in today’s world

Examines how advances in materials underlie and enable advances in technology

Covers a wide range of materials including stone, wood, leather, cloth, natural fibers, gold, and numerous alloys

Ian Baker is a Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth College. His research interests include mechanical behavior of metallic alloys, magnetic materials, ice and snow, phase transformations, electron microscopy, and x-ray techniques.