Materials and Design

Materials are the stuff of design. From the very beginning of human history, materials have been taken from the natural world and shaped, modified, and adapted for everything from primitive tools to modern electronics. This renowned book by noted materials engineering author Mike Ashby and industrial designer Kara Johnson explores the role of materials and materials processing in product design, with a particular emphasis on creating both desired aesthetics and functionality. The new edition features even more of the highly useful "materials profiles" that give critical design, processing, performance and applications criteria for each material in question. The reader will find information ranging from the generic and commercial names of each material, its physical and mechanical properties, its chemical properties, its common uses, how it is typically made and processed, and even its average price. And with improved photographs and drawings, the reader is taken even more closely to the way real design is done by real designers, selecting the optimum materials for a successful product.

From the first edition: "...well-written and easy-to-read...unique and a worthwhile reference for designers, engineers, and suppliers." --Adhesives and Sealants Newsletter, 2006 "Well presented, easy to read with concise descriptions. Very suitable for students on courses which involve art design and the use of modern materials" --Derrick Parker, Univ. of Portsmouth, Dept. Mech. & Manufacturing Eng "I believe materials engineering faculty should use this book at some point in their materials engineering curriculum. It can then be a resource for students as they travel through the major. The same can be said in an ideal world for industrial engineering, industrial design, and maybe even mechanical engineering." --Blair London, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo "I don't know of any similar book. I used Ashby & Jones's Engineering Materials I & II for many years, but these are more technical and probably better as stand-alone texts for an engineering course. I think Materials & Design would be an excellent supplement to an Engineering Materials course, and could serve as the primary text in Industrial or Product Design course focusing on materials." --Gary Benenson, City College of New York

Mike Ashby is one of the world’s foremost authorities on materials selection. He is sole or lead author of several of Elsevier’s top selling engineering textbooks, including Materials and Design: The Art and Science of Material Selection in Product Design, Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Materials and the Environment, Materials and Sustainable Development, and Materials: Engineering, Science, Processing and Design. He is also co-author of the books Engineering Materials 1&2, and Nanomaterials, Nanotechnologies and Design. Since publishing the first edition of Materials and Design in 2002, Kara Johnson has worked at IDEO, a global design firm and strategic consultancy. Kara leads their efforts in Materials, with a focus on Manufacturing. Her work is primarily about linking a company’s brand and business strategies with the products they make.