The aim of this book is to provide a text for a senior undergraduate course on the mechanical behavior of ceramics. There are, however, some advanced sections that would allow the book to be used at the graduate level (marked ††). The format of the book owes much to the text, Mechanical Properties of Matter, by A. H. Cottrell, which helped me through graduate school. In teaching a course in this area, it has always been frustrating that there are so few texts aimed primarily at ceramics. There is often the concern of discerning whether ideas applied to other materials could also be used to understand ceramic materials. I have also been fortunate in being involved in the field of structural ceramics at a time it has undergone remarkable developments and I have tried to incorporate my interpretation of these recent advances into the text.

I would be amiss in not acknowledging the support I have received in undertaking this project. I owe much to Pat Nicholson, Dave Embury and Dick Hoagland, who patiently introduced me to this field of research and to Tom Wheat, who taught me about the processing of ceramics. I am particularly grateful to Fred Lange, who took a chance on me and became my mentor.