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.From a historical perspective, our development as Homo sapiens has largely been shaped by our use of materials. This development is clearly reflected in the terms Stone Age, Iron Age and Bronze Age. The fact that you are reading this is testimony to the fact that we now live in a Silicon Age ! All materials - such as metals, ceramics, plastics, glasses, composites and biomaterials - are comprised of chemical elements. In the same way that the alphabet allows us to form words and language, the periodic table and its 100 or-so naturally occurring elements allows useful materials to be created. With the help of engineers, these materials can be crafted into products with functional and aesthetic qualities. These products could be anything from a fan-blade for a jet engine to the beautiful golden mask of Tutankhamun.
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In essence, materials science aims at understanding the nature and behaviour of matter. From this knowledge, it is hoped that we will be able to optimise materials processing and thus improve the properties and in-service performance of components. By its very nature, materials science is a multi-disciplinary subject that draws on many other scientific disciplines, as shown in the diagram below.
 Materials science uses the laws of physics (e.g. thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer, fluid dynamics) to understand how various physical phenomena influence materials behaviour. It also exploits the vast amount of information from chemistry (e.g. bonding, structure and chemical reactions). In addition, mathematics plays an important role in materials science, because it allows us to quantify our scientific discoveries in the form of analytical equations and numerical models. Last but not least, materials science relies on engineering, since this is the true application of science in the design and manufacture of components. In recent years, there have been a number of significant technological advances in the field of materials. These developments include, for example...
These materials are now opening new horizons for engineers and product designers in the 21st century. The products of the future are reliant on the study of these novel materials.
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