I believe that the debate over the “best” textbooks has been waged for as long as textbooks have existed. Not knowing any better, I will boldly offer my opinions here. Obviously, I have not read every single textbook out there (even some of my recommendations, ha!) and my suggestions balance quality, popularity, and availability (books are expensive and paywalls suck). You should see if your school library has physical copies or electronic versions. Also, not everyone learns best by reading textbooks (other resources), but in case you’d like a fallback reference, here are my thoughts.

Contents

  1. General MSE
  2. UG and GR
  3. General public
  4. Prereqs

General MSE

⭐ Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction by William D. Callister and David G. Rethwisch. This is the most widely used textbook in an introductory MSE course, and most people just refer to it as “Callister.” It’s comprehensive, well-written, well-illustrated, widely available, and so popular that you might as well choose it over others. No book is perfect, but I would be foolish not to recommend this first.

If you want to consider others:

  • Introduction to Materials Science for Engineers by James F. Shackelford is also good! Similar to Callister in organization and content.
  • Foundations of Materials Science and Engineering by William Smith and Javad Hashemi.
  • Engineering Materials: Properties and Selection by Kenneth G. Budinski and Michael K. Budinski.
  • The Science and Engineering of Materials by Donald R. Askeland and Wendelin J. Wright.
  • Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering: A Design-led Approach by Michael F. Ashby et al. This is relatively new and could be interesting, as Ashby always takes a design-first approach to teaching.
  • Impact of Materials on Society by Sophia K. Acord et al. An interesting text that mixes MSE with classics.

Undergraduate and graduate

With contributions from Joel Galos

This section is harder to organize and the distinction between an undergrad vs. grad text is often blurred, so for simplicity it’s a table where I list preferred and less preferred titles and the rows generally range from core to elective topics. I always welcome your comments!

  • ⭐ denotes my favorites, particularly in terms of writing style and readability.
  • § denotes texts that are commonly referred to by their authors instead of their titles (e.g., Callister), so new students are aware.
  • e denotes texts that have electronic versions, such as through SpringerLink or ScienceDirect.
Subject Undergraduate Graduate
Thermo Thermodynamics in Materials Science by Robert DeHoff§
- Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Materials by David R. Gaskell§		 Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics by Herbert B. Callen§
- Principles of Classical Thermodynamics: Applied to Materials Science by Didier de Fontaine
- Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics by David Chandler
Kinetics ⭐Phase Transformations in Metals and Alloys by David A. Porter and Kenneth E. Easterling§
- Materials Kinetics by John Mauroe
- Kinetics in Materials Science and Engineering by Dennis W. Readey		 Kinetics of Materials by Robert W. Balluffi et al.e
Quantum Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by David J. Griffiths§ Introduction to Solid State Physics by Charles Kittel§
Solid State Physics by Neil Ashcroft and N. David Mermin§
Structure Structure and Bonding in Crystalline Materials by Gregory S. Rohrere
- Structure of Materials: An Introduction to Crystallography, Diffraction and Symmetry by Marc De Graef and Michael E. McHenry
- The Basics of Crystallography and Diffraction by Christopher Hammonde		 Crystallography and Crystal Defects by Anthony Kelly and Kevin M. Knowles§,e
Point
defects		 Defects in Solids by Richard J. D. Tilleye
- Imperfections in Crystalline Solids by Wei Cai and William D. Nix!		 Crystallography and Crystal Defects by Anthony Kelly and Kevin M. Knowles§,e
Dislocations Introduction to Dislocations by Derek Hull and David J. Bacon§,e
- Imperfections in Crystalline Solids by Wei Cai and William D. Nix		 Theory of Dislocations by John P. Hirth and Jens Lothe§
Grain boundaries Imperfections in Crystalline Solids by Wei Cai and William D. Nix
- Recrystallization and Related Annealing Phenomena by F.J. Humphreys and M. Hatherlye		 Interfaces in Crystalline Materials by Adrian P. Sutton and Robert W. Balluffi§
X-ray diffraction ⭐Elements of X-ray Diffraction by Bernard D. Cullity and Stuart R. Stock§
- Fundamentals of Powder Diffraction and Structural Characterization of Materials by Vitalij K. Pecharsky and Peter Y. Zavalije
- The Basics of Crystallography and Diffraction by Christopher Hammonde		 Elements of Modern X‐ray Physics by Jens Als-Nielsen and Des McMorrowe
Scanning
electron
microscopy		 Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis by Joseph I. Goldstein et al.e Scanning Electron Microscopy by Ludwig Reimere
Transmission
electron
microscopy		 ⭐Transmission Electron Microscopy: A Textbook for Materials Science by David B. Williams and C. Barry Carter§,e Transmission Electron Microscopy and Diffractometry of Materials by B. Fultz and J.M. Howe§,e
- Physical Principles of Electron Microscopy by Roger F. Egerton
Mechanical Mechanical Behavior of Materials by Marc André Meyers and Krishan Kumar Chawlae
- Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials by Richard W. Hertzberg et al.
- Mechanics of Materials by Russell C. Hibbeler		 Mechanical Behavior of Materials by Thomas H. Courtney
Electronic ⭐Principles of Electronic Materials and Devices by Safa Kasap§ Physics of Semiconductor Devices by S.M. Sze and Kwok K. Nge
Energy Electrochemical Engineering by Thomas F. Fuller and John N. Harb
- Energy Storage: Fundamentals, Materials, and Applications by Robert Huggins!e
- Physics of Solar Cells: From Principles to New Concepts by Peter Würfele
- Introduction to Fuel Cells: Electrochemistry and Materials by San Ping Jiang and Qingfeng Lie		  
Ceramics Ceramic Materials: Science and Engineering by C. Barry Carter and M. Grant Nortone  
Polymers Introduction to Polymers by Robert J. Young and Peter A. Lovell§ Polymer Chemistry by Timothy P. Lodge and Paul C. Hiemenz§,e
- Polymers: Chemistry and Physics of Modern Materials by J.M.G. Cowie and Valeria Arrighi
Composites Composite Materials: Science and Engineering by Krishan K. Chawlae An Introduction to Composite Materials by T.W. (Bill) Clyne and Derek Hulle
Thin films   The Materials Science of Thin Films by Milton Ohringe
Cellular/Foams Cellular Solids: Structure and Properties by Lorna J. Gibson and Michael F. Ashbye Metal Foams: A Design Guide by Michael F. Ashby et al.e
Selection Materials Selection in Mechanical Design by Michael F. Ashbye
- Materials and Design: The Art and Science of Material Selection in Product Design by Michael F. Ashby and Kara Johnsone		  
Sustainability Materials and Sustainable Development by Michael F. Ashbye
- Materials and the Environment: Eco-Informed Material Choice by Michael F. Ashbye		  
Computation ⭐Introduction to Computational Materials Science by Richard LeSar Numerical Recipes by William H. Press
Molecular
dynamics		 Understanding Molecular Simulation by Daan Frenkel and Berend Smit§,e Computer Simulation of Liquids by Michael P. Allen and Dominic J. Tildesleye
Density
functional
theory		 ⭐Density Functional Theory: A Practical Introduction by David S. Sholl and Janice A. Steckele Electronic Structure: Basic Theory and Practical Methods by Richard M. Martine
- Electronic Structure of Materials by Adrian P. Suttone
Informatics ⭐An Introduction to Statistical Learning by Gareth James et al.e (not MSE, but a staple; § as “ISL”)
- Introduction to Materials Informatics by Enze Chen and Mark Asta!e
- Computational and Inferential Thinking by Ani Adhikari et al.e		 deep learning for molecules and materials by Andrew D. Whitee
- An Introduction to Materials Informatics by Tongyi Zhange
Visualization ⭐Storytelling with Data by Cole N. Knaflice (not MSE, but a staple)
- The Functional Art by Alberto Cairoe
- The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte		 Visual Strategies: A Practical Guide to Graphics for Scientists and Engineers by Felice C. Frankel and Angela H. DePacee

General nonfiction

There’s even some materials science books out there written for a general audience! Here are the ones that come to mind.

  • Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik.
  • The New Science of Strong Materials: Or Why You Don’t Fall through the Floor by James E. Gordon.
  • Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future by Ed Conway.
  • The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives by Ernest Scheyder.
  • Made to Measure: New Materials for the 21st Century by Philip Ball.
  • How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson
  • The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean.
  • The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another by Ainissa Ramirez.
  • Rust: The Longest War by Jonathan Waldman.

Prerequisites?

It occurred to me while writing this that maybe students are interested in textbooks that can help them brush up on more of the fundamental math and science. I don’t know this as well because there’s a huge market for these textbooks, new versions are always being produced, and honestly, the concepts are so widely explained that your best bet may actually be YouTube, Khan Academy, etc. Still, I’ll try to offer some quick thoughts in a table, but I’m open to your suggestions!

Subject My recommendation
Calculus - I’ve personally never had a good textbook, though I’ve heard Larson and Stewart are classics.
- If you’ve never heard of “Paul’s Online Notes” I think they’re worth checking out. Clear and succinct.
- But honestly I would Khan Academy this (practice problems!) or use 3Blue1Brown (visual explanations!).
Linear
algebra		 - Ditto with calculus, and no shortage of videos and practice, with the rise of ML and whatnot.
- Don’t sleep on the man, the myth, the legend: Gil Strang
- You’ll definitely want to use something like Khan Academy for practice with rapid feedback.
- A possible contender, with differential equations and calculus (and analysis!), is Advanced Engineering Analysis by Kreyszig.
Computer
science		 - Oh definitely Coursera/Udemy/YouTube this. Try to find one in Python. Be patient, especially when reading documentation.
- You absolutely need to do practice problems, fail fast and often. I like Codingbat to start with.
- If your instructor or advisor insists on MATLAB, check out the MATLAB Onramp or MATLAB by Attaway.
Physics - I think in high school I used either Halliday and Resnick or the Knight textbooks.
- Of course, a classic is The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard Feynman himself, freely available through Caltech.
Chemistry - I’ve heard that Brown and Atkins are pretty good, though this is in a similar boat as physics.
- I would probably use Khan Academy or YouTube.
Biology? - The classic textbook for general biology is definitely Campbell Biology.
- Otherwise you’re on your own. 🤷🏼‍♂️