A comprehensive treatment of the chemistry and physics of mechanical hardnessChemistry and Physics of Mechanical Hardness presents a general introduction to hardness measurement and the connections between hardness and fundamental materials properties.Beginning with an introduction on the importance of hardness in the development of technology, the book systematically covers:IndentationChemical bondingPlastic deformationCovalent semiconductorsSimple metals and alloysTransition metalsIntermetallic compoundsIonic crystalsMetal-metalloidsOxidesMolecular crystalsPolymersGlassesHot hardnessChemical hardnessSuper-hard materialsChemistry and Physics of Mechanical Hardness is essential reading for materials scientists, mechanical engineers, metallurgists, ceramists, chemists, and physicists who are interested in learning how hardness is related to other properties and to the building blocks of everyday matter.