W. D. Means

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This is an elementary book on stress and strain theory for geologists. It is written in the belief that a sound introduction to the mechanics of continu­ ous bodies is essential for students of structural geology and tectonics, just as a sound introduction to physical chemistry is necessary for students of petrology. This view is shared by most specialists in structural geology, but it is not yet reflected in typical geology curricula. Undergraduates are still traditionally given just a few lectures on mechanical fundamentals, and there is rarely any systematic lecturing on this subject at the graduate level. The result is that many students interested in structure and tectonics finish their formal train­ ing without being able to understand or contribute to modem literature on rocks as mechanical systems. The long-term remedy for this is to introduce courses in continuum mechanics and material behavior as routine parts of the undergraduate curriculum. These subjects are difficult, but no more so than optical mineralogy or thermo­ dynamics or other rigorous subjects customarily studied by undergraduates. The short-term remedy is to provide books suitable for independ­ ent study by those students and working geologists alike who wish to improve their understanding of mechanical topics relevant to geology. This book is intended to meet the short-term need with respect to stress and strain, two elementary yet challenging concepts of continuum mechanics.