Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering , Yip-Wah Chung , CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL, 2007. $99.95 (287 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8493-9263-4
In the preface to his Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering , Yip-Wah Chung tells us that he aims to “inform, educate, and entertain.” Of all the disciplines in engineering, materials science and engineering, a relatively unknown field outside of academic circles, faces the unique challenge of attracting new recruits. With that backdrop, Chung strives to convey to the uninitiated the wonders and practical importance of the field. True to his word, the author, a professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern University, begins each chapter “with some simple facts, a story, or an experiment” to draw readers into the subsequent, more technical discussion. He is to be commended for pursuing such an experiment; however, I found that although the text succeeds in informing, it is less successful at educating, and for me it was even less successful at entertaining.
Instructors of materials science and engineering have a broad range of textbooks already available to them. Chung differentiates his text from others through his storytelling style, which may indeed be effective in generating enthusiasm for the field among some students. In terms of content, however, the book suffers from the usual flaw of modern materials science and engineering textbooks in that ceramics, covered in chapter 6, and polymers, discussed in chapter 7, are treated as afterthoughts; the unstated assumption is that “materials” really means “metals.” But Chung’s assumption is at least more relaxed than many: In chapter 3, the early treatment of electrical properties places semiconductors at almost equal standing with metals, and more examples of esoteric materials are sprinkled throughout the text.
As with most undergraduate textbooks on the subject, Chung’s text begins chapter 1 with chemical bonding, crystalline structures, and x-ray diffraction; the author then moves on to defects in chapter 2. Any instructor of introductory courses in the field struggles with the question of whether to connect the discussion of defects to the physical properties they affect (such as point defects in connection with diffusion, and dislocations in connection with mechanical deformation) or continue with the fundamental descriptors of the material state. In chapter 2, Chung chooses to connect point defects to diffusion but defers the discussion of mechanical deformation to chapter 4. In my own teaching, I have found that students have no basis for understanding dislocations in the absence of the impact of those defects on mechanical properties, and it is unfortunate that the topics are disconnected in Chung’s book. To justify the deferred presentation of the topic, the author contends in the preface that mechanical properties are outside of students’ “comfort zone.” But surely that argument depends on the background of the students.
Phase diagrams are treated in chapter 5, and after discussion of those pesky ceramics and polymers, in chapters 6 and 7, the text covers corrosion and oxidation of metals in chapter 8 and magnetic properties in chapter 9. Given the text’s brevity, certainly not all aspects of materials can be presented, but it is not clear how Chung’s chosen topics take precedence over, for example, optical properties, thermal properties, or processing strategies. That said, most undergraduate textbooks in this field include far more information than an instructor can possibly cover in a single semester; as such, they largely serve to accelerate deforestation and induce back injuries. The final chapter of Chung’s text, chapter 10, is devoted entirely to thin films, another experiment that sets the book apart from others.
In each chapter the selection of specific topics is also distinctive. For example, chapter 1 has a discussion of x-ray diffraction characterization of thin films, chapter 2 covers diffusion mechanisms in biological systems, and chapter 7 treats polymeric fire retardants. Frequent references to modern technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells, thermoelectrics, smart materials, and nanomaterials give the impression that the book is up-to-date, but it also leaves it at risk of becoming quickly outdated as technology evolves while principles remain. The treatment of those various modern topics is generally cursory and, perhaps by design, leaves readers wishing for more. Thus, I find the book more informative than educational. Without depth to explain much of the “why,” the text reads like a modern facts-and-figures book.
Moreover, because no author can possibly be an expert in each of the wide range of topics, errors, misunderstandings, and oversimplifications are inevitable. For example, the claim on page 81 that thermoelectric materials can easily achieve a desired combination of properties for attractive efficiencies (ZT values of 2–5) is a matter of tremendous debate. In another example, fuel cells are reduced to hydrogen fuel cells in what is apparently an attempt to capitalize on the hydrogen hype; in fact, fuel cells do not require hydrogen as a fuel. Such subtle points can hardly be addressed in a short text. More egregious than those debatable positions are several fundamental errors. For example, Schottky defects are presented incorrectly on pages 37 and 148, and the discussion in section 2.9 on defect concentrations confuses kinetics with thermodynamics. Other concepts, such as “free energy,” are simply used without introduction; furthermore, the quantity presented without clarification in the appendix to chapter 2 is the Helmholtz free energy, although it is the Gibbs free energy that should be evaluated.
Two additional aspects of Chung’s textbook warrant some comment. The first is the extensive use of footnotes, a mechanism Chung freely admits he employs to convey “fun” information. I found them distracting, as I expected that something relatively important, though tangential, would be inserted. The content was often disappointing. The most extreme example was a footnote on weight-loss strategies—the relevance is completely lost to me. The second aspect is the dismal quality of the figures. For a textbook that aims to entertain, I was struck that many of the line figures were so poorly constructed, not to mention the extremely low resolution of many of the photographs.
Chung’s Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering experiments in its presentation of the subject. I can understand the author’s rationale for including some of the most recent advances in the field, and I appreciate the great effort he has taken to capture the imagination of younger readers. For some students, the style will seem condescending, as it seems to imply a limited attention span; for others, it will inspire as intended. I recommend that instructors carefully evaluate the contents and approach of the textbook for themselves and for their students. An alternative text, Rodney Cotterill’s The Cambridge Guide to the Material World (Cambridge University Press, 1985), succeeds in capturing the imagination while providing depth, albeit at the expense of breadth.
