The modern concepts of physical metallurgy are equally fundamental to the understanding of all non-metallic materials. Therefore, it makes sense to address the traditionally differentiated fields of knowledge based on materials such as metals, ceramics, glass, and plastics under the unifying term of materials science and engineering. Based on this observation, this textbook first introduces general metallurgy but also lays the foundations for the entire field of materials science and engineering. The focus is on the scientific aspect of materials science, without neglecting its engineering component. This concept is successfully implemented in the current 4th edition. Modern developments have been particularly addressed through expansions on new materials.