Fundamentals of Materials Science

Abstract

The German and Dutch languages have single, almost identical words for the field of “Materials Science and Engineering”: “Materialkunde” and “Materiaalkunde”, respectively. Thereby applications of materials serving mankind and the development of the corresponding basis of knowledge and understanding of nature have been indicated in a unified way. The intertwined nature of science and engineering is a decisive characteristic of this multidisciplinary field. Yet, as its title indicates, this book is devoted to materials science and much less to materials engineering. The reason for this restriction is twofold: firstly, a theoretical background is a prerequisite for any engineer to be successful, and thus any study in this field must start with providing a scientific basis, and, secondly, including a coverage of the synthesis and treatment of materials in practical applications would have made this book either too bulky or, to keep the amount of information offered manageable, too superficial. The implication from the above is that it is intended to present a treatise on the basics of materials science that has a fundamental character. This may seem an impossible undertaking, as at the same time the book is meant to be used also in the beginning of a materials science and engineering study. For a start it implies that one largely has to abandon usage of mathematical techniques the reader is not familiar with yet. It is my conviction that this does not impede transmitting physical and chemical understanding. Of course, then some important results of advanced theories have to be introduced and accepted without proof, but this is no serious obstacle in order to develop a sound basis of the basics of the field. On the contrary, in this way one is best prepared for later to absorb separate, advanced courses on, say, quantum mechanics and materials thermodynamics and kinetics. If this book realizes these aspirations sufficiently satisfactorily, then this book will be used by the reader also at later stages of his/her study, because a fundamental background may be quickly grasped on the basis of what this book offers. Also therefore the material contained in the book is much more comprehensive than what can normally be offered in an introductory course on materials science. Or, phrased in another way, the book should provide useful preparation for reading and studying advanced textbooks on topics as “chemical bonding”, “diffusion” and “lattice defects” dealt with here in, only, chapters. There is no lack of such textbooks. But I do feel that there is a need for a book