Preface 

1. The Land Clearers and the "Classics"           

2. Transition to the 20^th Century  

3. Rheology and Nonlinear Elasticity  

4. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers Spirit        

5. Axiomatization and Thermo-Mechanics  

6. The British School of Elasticity, Plasticity and Defects: Applied Mathematics 

7. The French Masters

8. The Polish Strength

9. German Revival in Continuum Mechanics After WWII

10. European Miscellanei and Asia

11. The Soviet and Russian Schools

12. Continuum Mechanics and Electromagnetism

13. Generalized Continuum Mechanics: Various Paths

14. Configurational Mechanics     

15. Relativistic Continuum Mechanics: A 20^th Century Adventure

16. Epilogue

Appendix: Selected Biographies of Mechanicians
Index

This overview of the development of continuum mechanics throughout the twentieth century is unique and ambitious. Utilizing a historical perspective, it combines an exposition on the technical progress made in the field and a marked interest in the role played by remarkable individuals and scientific schools and institutions on a rapidly evolving social background. It underlines the newly raised technical questions and their answers, and the ongoing reflections on the bases of continuum mechanics associated, or in competition, with other branches of the physical sciences, including thermodynamics. The emphasis is placed on the development of a more realistic modeling of deformable solids and the exploitation of new mathematical tools. The book presents a balanced appraisal of advances made in various parts of the world. The author contributes his technical expertise, personal recollections, and international experience to this general overview, which is very informative albeit concise.