Book excerpt: New materials enable advances in engineering design. This book describes a procedure for material selection in mechanical design, allowing the most suitable materials for a given application to be identified from the full range of materials and section shapes available. A novel approach is adopted not found elsewhere. Materials are introduced through their properties; materials selection charts (a new development) capture the important features of all materials, allowing rapid retrieval of information and application of selection techniques. Merit indices, combined with charts, allow optimisation of the materials selection process. Sources of material property data are reviewed and approaches to their use are given. Material processing and its influence on the design are discussed. The book closes with chapters on aesthetics and industrial design. Case studies are developed as a method of illustrating the procedure and as a way of developing the ideas further.