This text treats the important properties of the three primary types of materials - metals, ceramics, and polymers - as well as composites, and the relationships that exist between the structural elements of these materials and their properties. Emphasis is placed on mechanical behaviour and failure, including techniques that are employed to improve the mechanical and failure characteristics in terms of alteration of structural elements. Furthermore, individual chapters discuss corrosion, electrical, thermal, magnetic, optical properties, and economic/environmental/societal issues. The book offers a balanced coverage of metals, polymers, and ceramics with selections on composite materials. It discusses corrosive, electrical, thermal, magnetic, mechanical, and optical properties of materials. Early chapters treat atomic bonding and crystal structures of metals, as review material for students who have had a complete year of freshman chemistry. Further material is devoted to the mechanical properties, the mechanisms of deformation, and failure, respectively, for metals with a detailed discussion of elementary fracture mechanisms.