Book excerpt: Computational Methods in Elasticity and Plasticity: Solids and Porous Media presents the latest developments in the area of elastic and elasto-plastic finite element modeling of solids, porous media and pressure-dependent materials and structures. The book covers the following topics in depth: the mathematical foundations of solid mechanics, the finite element method for solids and porous media, the theory of plasticity and the finite element implementation of elasto-plastic constitutive models. The book also includes: -A detailed coverage of elasticity for isotropic and anisotropic solids. -A detailed treatment of nonlinear iterative methods that could be used for nonlinear elastic and elasto-plastic analyses. -A detailed treatment of a kinematic hardening von Mises model that could be used to simulate cyclic behavior of solids. -Discussion of recent advances in the analysis of porous media and pressure-dependent materials in more detail than other books currently available. Computational Methods in Elasticity and Plasticity: Solids and Porous Media also contains problem sets, worked examples and a solutions manual for instructors.