Materials punctuate our daily lives. Directly related to their use but also their production, transformation and extraction of raw materials, they set the pace for rational industrial growth. Among them, metals and ceramics are of considerable economic importance. Crystalline materials and their structural and functional applications are the focus of particular attention, growing interest and advanced research, and contribute to meeting the major societal challenges of today and tomorrow, in a context of technological excellence and sustainable development. The sole ambition of this book is to provide the scientific background that today's engineers, who are necessarily generalists, need in this field. It is the fruit of over twenty-five years of experience in teaching, sharing and transmitting knowledge, mainly acquired at IMT Mines Albi but also in numerous foreign universities around the world. It forms the basis of teaching in materials science and engineering for undergraduates intending to study materials and their applications in greater depth. This book features a compelling forewords by Prof. John Henshaw and Prof. John Nicholls, highlighting this book’s immense value.