Formulas for life in a solid world

This journal's stated aim is to publish research that elucidates the mechanical behaviour of solids with particular emphasis on mathematical principles. The classical mechanics of solids is a well-developed discipline, but as technology progresses we are increasingly interested in the behaviour of solids under conditions in which the normal continuum theory breaks down. This journal provides a useful focus for this area of work. The typical readership would include applied mathematicians working in solid mechanics and engineers of almost any discipline.

The mathematical content is significant, but engineers with less mathematical training should not be put off: the material is presented clearly and will be valuable to someone less interested in mathematical detail and more in broad principles. Describing mathematical work in this way is difficult -Jit is essential that the editors continue to demand this standard of contributors.

A subsidiary aim of the journal is to publish occasional essays on timely topics. There is a particularly enjoyable short article on Saint-Venant in the second volume (on the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth). I hope that such essays are published frequently.

I would like to see more papers that develop numerical algorithms for exploiting the mathematical models described. It has become obvious that the best numerical techniques are constructed in tandem with the mathematical model. This allows us to produce specialised algorithms designed to illuminate important features of the behaviour. Of course, the mathematical model is of limited use if we cannot extract useful information from it. This is a personal preference, and the journal should still find a large readership more interested in mathematical principles of solid behaviour.

The journal has made a sound start, and it could succeed if it continues to attract papers of quality and establish itself as the home of this area of research.

Alan Craig is lecturer in mathematical sciences, University of Durham.