Abstract
From the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, humans have framed their views of the world based on the materials available to them and the opportunities those materials afforded in terms of quality of life. Today, we live in a world with over 300,000 known materials and, thanks to the scientific and technical discoveries of the past half-century, the study and manipulation of these materials has now risen to the level of its own interdisciplinary science.1 Materials science looks at how different materials—anything from wood to ceramics to metal to semiconductors—respond to different conditions and how the properties of these materials can be modified to enhance the materials’ functions or to create new ones.2 Using knowledge from fields such as chemistry, physics and electrical and mechanical engineering, materials science is influencing developments in nanotechnology and micro and electronic materials, among other fields.3 Advances in materials science have encouraged multiple innovations in science and technology that are already improving our quality of life.
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Notes
Committee on Materials Science and Engineering, Solid State Sciences Committee, Board on Physics and Astronomy, Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources, National Materials Advisory Board, Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems, National Research Council (1989), Materials Science and Engineering for the 1990s: Maintaining Competitiveness in the Age of Materials (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press), p. 19.
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Ibid.
K. Bullis (2008), ‘Mass Production of Plastic Solar Cells’ (2008), MIT Technology Review, 17 October, http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/21574/pagel, date accessed 16 August 2010.
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Ibid.
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Ibid., p. 873.
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Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
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Ibid.
Ibid.
National Research Council (2005), Globalization of Materials R&D: Time for a National Strategy, (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press), p. 120.
Ibid.
Committee on Materials Research for Defense After Next, National Research Council (2003), Materials Research to Meet 21st Century Defense Needs (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press), p. 13.
Ibid., p. 12.
M. Brant (2003), ‘Sci-fi War Uniforms?’, Newsweek, Vol. 141, No. 8, p. E2.
Committee on Materials Research for Defense After Next, National Research Council (2003), Materials Research to Meet 21st Century Defense Needs, p. 15.
Committee on Materials Research for Defense After Next, National Research Council (2003), Materials Research to Meet 21st Century Defense Needs, p. 22.
G. De Micheli (2009), ‘Material and Nano Technology’, Presentation at the 8th International Security Forum, Geneva, Switzerland, 19 May.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Committee on Materials Research for Defense After Next, National Research Council (2003), Materials Research to Meet 21st Century Defense Needs, p. 22.
Ibid.
G. De Micheli (2009), ‘Designing Nano Systems for a Safer Tomorrow’ in N.R.F. Al-Rodhan (ed.) Potential Global Strategic Catastrophes: Balancing Transnational Responsibilities and Burden-sharing with Sovereignty and Human Dignity, (Berlin: LIT), p. 152.
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© 2011 Nayef R.F. Al-Rodhan
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Al-Rodhan, N.R.F. (2011). Materials Science. In: The Politics of Emerging Strategic Technologies. St Antony’s Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230304949_9
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