Book excerpt: Collection of selected, peer reviewed papers from the 26th Symposium on Experimental Mechanics of Solids, October 22-25, 2014, Jachranka, Poland. The 40 papers are grouped as follows: Chapter 1: Experimental and Numerical Methods and Equipments for Practical Investigation and Engineering Designing; Chapter 2: Investigation Processes of Fatigue and Fracture; Chapter 3: Investigations Mechanical Properties of Advanced Materials; Chapter 4: Experimental Methods for Investigations of Devices, Machines and Structures