Professor James Stuart, the first Professor of Engineering at Cambridge.

1.1 Materials, Processes and Choice

Engineers make things. They make them out of materials. The materials have to support loads, to insulate or conduct heat and electricity, to accept or reject magnetic flux, to transmit or reflect light, to survive in often-hostile surroundings, and to do all this without damage to the environment or costing too much.

And there is the partner in all this. To make something out of a material you also need a process. Not just any process the one you choose has to be compatible with the material you plan to use. Sometimes it is the process that is the dominant partner and a material-mate must be found that is compatible with it. It is a marriage. Compatibility is not easily found many marriages fail and material failure can be catastrophic, with issues of liability and compensation. This sounds like food for lawyers, and sometimes it is: some specialists make their living as expert witnesses in court cases involving failed materials. But our aim here is not contention; rather, it is to give you a vision of the materials universe (since, even on the remotest planets you will find the same elements) and of the universe of processes, and to provide methods and tools for choosing them to ensure a happy, durable union.

But, you may say, engineers have been making things out of materials for centuries, and successfully so think of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Thomas Telford,...