Disciplines

Materials Science

Also Known As Materials Science and Engineering

Citation Formats

General Reference

Science Atlas. "Materials Science." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://science.interactiveatlas.org/disciplines/materials-science.

APA Style

Science Atlas. (n.d.). Materials Science. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://science.interactiveatlas.org/disciplines/materials-science

BibTeX

@misc{scienceatlas-materials-science,
  author = {Science Atlas},
  title = {Materials Science},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://science.interactiveatlas.org/disciplines/materials-science},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Materials science is the study of the structure and properties of matter, especially metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites, and of how processing changes what a material can do. It coalesced as a field distinct from the older disciplines of metallurgy, ceramics engineering and solid-state physics beginning in the 1940s and 1950s; Northwestern University's 1960 founding of a dedicated Department of Materials Science is the event this atlas dates the field's arrival by, though other universities founded comparable programs across the same decade.

Facts

Founded Year

1960 1

the subject's own accountMaterials science emerged as a named discipline in the early 1960s, when university programs such as Northwestern University's Department of Materials Science, founded in 1960, brought together the previously separate fields of metallurgy, ceramics and solid-state physics under one banner.

Central Questionthe subject's own account

How does a material's internal structure, down to the arrangement of its atoms and defects, determine the mechanical, electrical, optical and thermal properties an engineer can actually use? 1

Scopethe subject's own account

Materials science studies the properties of matter and applies that understanding to design and discover new materials, spanning metals, ceramics, polymers, composites and semiconductors. 1

Significancethe subject's own account

Materials science emerged as a distinct academic discipline only in the 1950s and 1960s, when university departments began merging the previously separate study of metallurgy, ceramics and polymers under one structure-property-processing-performance framework, a synthesis credited to no single founder. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections