Book excerpt: Load-Bearing Fibre Composites provides a unified view of the entire field of fiber and platelet composites. This book explores the complex interactions between fibers and matrix. Organized into 12 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the fundamental ideas in the field of fiber reinforced composites. This text then provides data on their load-bearing capabilities. Other chapters consider a rough estimate of how strong a material could be and describe the two main sources of weakness in real materials. This book discusses as well the slender forms of material and describes the simple slip theory of reinforcement that gives the modulus and strength for aligned short-fiber composites. The final chapter deals with the versatile use of fiber reinforced materials, which can be designed for a specific application by suitable choice of components and volume fraction. This book is a valuable resource for materials scientists, metallurgists, designers, engineers, and research workers.