CHEM 114
The Science Behind Materials: Shaping the Past and Future of Society Spring 2021
Division III Quantative/Formal Reasoning

We are surrounded by materials. They have fulfilled human needs since ancient times. From Phoenician glass to flexible OLED displays, materials have impacted society and changed the way humans lead their lives. What makes materials the way they are? Why are some brittle while others are ductile? How can we design materials with specific properties that will solve tomorrow’s problems? To answer these questions, we have to think about materials at the atomic scale, looking at how their smallest building blocks organize into specific structures. In this course, we will discuss how a material’s structure relates to its properties. Then, we will dive into how different types of materials have been used in the past, how they were produced, the needs they satisfied, and how they shaped human civilization. This course will also cover both traditional and novel methods used to fabricate and analyze materials. We will talk about some of the cutting-edge research that materials scientists are working on today, concluding with an outlook to potential applications of emerging technologies.