Editing Materials science (section)

==Relation with other fields==
[[File:Google Ngram Viewer diagram on complex matter terminology.png|thumb|311x311px|[[Google Ngram Viewer]]-diagram visualizing the search terms for complex matter terminology (1940–2018). Green: "materials science", red: "[[condensed matter physics]]" and blue: "[[Solid-state physics|solid state physics]]".]]
Materials science evolved, starting from the 1950s because it was recognized that to create, discover and design new materials, one had to approach it in a unified manner. Thus, materials science and engineering emerged in many ways: renaming and/or combining existing [[metallurgy]] and [[ceramics engineering]] departments; splitting from existing [[solid state physics]] research (itself growing into [[condensed matter physics]]); pulling in relatively new [[polymer engineering]] and [[polymer science]]; recombining from the previous, as well as [[chemistry]], [[chemical engineering]], [[mechanical engineering]], and [[electrical engineering]]; and more.

The field of materials science and engineering is important both from a scientific perspective, as well as for applications field. Materials are of the utmost importance for engineers (or other applied fields) because usage of the appropriate materials is crucial when designing systems. As a result, materials science is an increasingly important part of an engineer's education.

Materials physics is the use of [[physics]] to describe the physical properties of materials. It is a synthesis of [[physical sciences]] such as [[chemistry]], [[solid mechanics]], [[solid state physics]], and materials science. Materials physics is considered a subset of [[condensed matter physics]] and applies fundamental condensed matter concepts to complex multiphase media, including materials of technological interest. Current fields that materials physicists work in include electronic, optical, and magnetic materials, novel materials and structures, quantum phenomena in materials, nonequilibrium physics, and soft condensed matter physics. New experimental and computational tools are constantly improving how materials systems are modeled and studied and are also fields when materials physicists work in.

The field is inherently [[interdisciplinary]], and the materials scientists or engineers must be aware and make use of the methods of the physicist, chemist and engineer. Conversely, fields such as life sciences and archaeology can inspire the development of new materials and processes, in [[Bioinspiration|bioinspired]] and [[Paleo-inspiration|paleoinspired]] approaches. Thus, there remain close relationships with these fields. Conversely, many physicists, chemists and engineers find themselves working in materials science due to the significant overlaps between the fields.