Book excerpt: This volume contains the proceedings of the first International Conference on the Science of Hard Materials held in Moran, Wyoming, Aug. 23-28, 1981. The objective of the conference was to review and advance the state of knowledge of the basic physical and chemical properties of hard materials and show how these properties influence performance in a variety of applications. To this end, the 49 con tributed papers and the four keynote papers by Prof. Fischmeister and Drs. Hintermann, Exner and Almond, present an excellent overview of the state of the art in the "science" of hard materials. The contents of these proceedings also reflect the fact that hard metal technology is now well matured and several aspects of the behavior of these materials are well understood and firmly established. Structure-property relationships in this class of materials are currently well known. Pitfalls in some of the traditional test methods have been recognized and new test methods are being developed which discriminate between intrinsic material properties and flaw content and distribution. Application of fracture mechanics, al though a late corner to the hard materials area (as compared to other structural materials), is rapidly gaining acceptance and new fracture toughness test methods are being developed. Application of modern analysis and analytical techniques to these materials has begun and entirely new and unexpected information has been obtained. For a variety of reasons, "hard metals" have dominated the research and development scene of "hard materials".