Interdisciplinary field which studies the discovery and design of new materials

Materials science

Materials science

Materials science is an <a href="/en/Interdisciplinarity" title="Interdisciplinarity" class="wl">interdisciplinary</a> field of researching and discovering <a href="/en/Material" title="Material" class="wl">materials</a>. Materials engineering is an <a href="/en/Engineering" title="Engineering" class="wl">engineering</a> field of designing and improving materials, and finding uses for materials in other fields and industries.

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Interdisciplinary field which studies the discovery and design of new materials</div>
<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:Diamond_cuboctahedron.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Diamond_cuboctahedron.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Diamond_cuboctahedron.jpg/260px-Diamond_cuboctahedron.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="943" data-file-type="bitmap" height="239" width="260" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Diamond_cuboctahedron.jpg/390px-Diamond_cuboctahedron.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Diamond_cuboctahedron.jpg/520px-Diamond_cuboctahedron.jpg 2x" alt="Diamond_cuboctahedron.jpg"></a><figcaption>A <a href="/en/Diamond" title="Diamond" class="wl">diamond</a> <a href="/en/Cuboctahedron" title="Cuboctahedron" class="wl">cuboctahedron</a> showing seven <a href="/en/Crystallographic" title="Crystallographic" class="mw-redirect wl">crystallographic</a> planes, imaged with <a href="/en/Scanning_electron_microscopy" title="Scanning electron microscopy" class="mw-redirect wl">scanning electron microscopy</a></figcaption></figure>

<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:Materials_classification.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Materials_classification.svg"><img loading="lazy"alt="Six classes of conventional engineering materials." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Materials_classification.svg/220px-Materials_classification.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="561" data-file-height="550" data-file-type="drawing" height="216" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Materials_classification.svg/330px-Materials_classification.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Materials_classification.svg/440px-Materials_classification.svg.png 2x"></a><figcaption>Six classes of conventional engineering materials</figcaption></figure>

The intellectual origins of materials science stem from the <a href="/en/Age_of_Enlightenment" title="Age of Enlightenment" class="wl">Age of Enlightenment</a>, when researchers began to use analytical thinking from <a href="/en/Chemistry" title="Chemistry" class="wl">chemistry</a>, <a href="/en/Physics" title="Physics" class="wl">physics</a>, and <a href="/en/Engineering" title="Engineering" class="wl">engineering</a> to understand ancient, <a href="/en/Empirical_relationship" title="Empirical relationship" class="wl">phenomenological</a> observations in <a href="/en/Metallurgy" title="Metallurgy" class="wl">metallurgy</a> and <a href="/en/Mineralogy" title="Mineralogy" class="wl">mineralogy</a>.<a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;">[1]</a><a href="#cite_note-smith-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;">[2]</a> Materials science still incorporates elements of physics, chemistry, and engineering. As such, the field was long considered by academic institutions as a sub-field of these related fields. Beginning in the 1940s, materials science began to be more widely recognized as a specific and distinct field of science and engineering, and major technical universities around the world created dedicated schools for its study.

Materials scientists emphasize understanding how the history of a material (processing) influences its structure, and thus the <a href="/en/Material_properties" title="Material properties" class="mw-redirect wl">material's properties</a> and performance. The understanding of processing-structure-properties relationships is called the materials paradigm. This <a href="/en/Paradigm" title="Paradigm" class="wl">paradigm</a> is used to advance understanding in a variety of research areas, including <a href="/en/Nanotechnology" title="Nanotechnology" class="wl">nanotechnology</a>, <a href="/en/Biomaterial" title="Biomaterial" class="wl">biomaterials</a>, and <a href="/en/Metallurgy" title="Metallurgy" class="wl">metallurgy</a>.

Materials science is also an important part of <a href="/en/Forensic_engineering" title="Forensic engineering" class="wl">forensic engineering</a> and <a href="/en/Failure_analysis" title="Failure analysis" class="wl">failure analysis</a>&nbsp;– investigating materials, products, structures or components, which fail or do not function as intended, causing personal injury or damage to property. Such investigations are key to understanding, for example, the causes of various <a href="/en/Aviation_accidents_and_incidents" title="Aviation accidents and incidents" class="wl">aviation accidents and incidents</a>.

Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of designing and improving materials, and finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials science stem from the Age of Enlightenment, when researchers began to use analytical thinking from chemistry, physics, and engineering to understand ancient, phenomenological observations in metallurgy and mineralogy. Materials science still incorporates elements of physics, chemistry, and engineering. As such, the field was long considered by academic institutions as a sub-field of these related fields. Beginning in the 1940s, materials science began to be more widely recognized as a specific and distinct field of science and engineering, and major technical universities around the world created dedicated schools for its study. Materials scientists emphasize understanding how the history of a material influences its structure, and thus the material's properties and performance. The understanding of processing-structure-properties relationships is called the materials paradigm. This paradigm is used to advance understanding in a variety of research areas, including nanotechnology, biomaterials, and metallurgy. 