A special survey of the extensive field of Constitutive Laws is given in 11 lectures, divided into three parts: Thermodynamics of Materials, Stochastic Processes and Material Behaviour, Constitutive Relations for Simple Fluids and Microphysics of Solids. The collection of lectures comprehends a novel survey of thermodynamical constitutive theories, and contributions to material theories with after-effects including experiments, stochastic constitutive laws, molecular dynamics for simulating material properties, electrodynamical constitutive properties, and thermodynamic and microphysical modelling of polymers. The selected lectures emphasize the microstructural aspect of constitutive laws, and this collection presents a new facet of constitutive laws.

This volume contains the lectures presented at the mini-symposium on "Micromechanics" held in conjunction with the CSME Mechanical Engineer ing Forum 1990 between the 3rd and 8th June, 1990 at the University of Toronto, Canada. The expressed purpose of this symposium was to discuss some recent developments in the Micromechanics of Materials and how ad vances in this field now relate to the solution of practical engineer ing problems. Due to the time limit set for this section of the Engineer ing Forum as well as the restriction on the number of papers to be pre sented, it was not possible to cover a much wider range of topics. How ever, an attempt was made to include the most important advances asso ciated with the progress made in micromechanics in its application to material science and engineering over the past decade. Thus, the topics are concerned with: the fundamental aspects of the thermodynamics of structured solids (part I), - the micromechanical behaviour of alloys (part II), - the modelling of the material behaviour on the basis of continuum theory (part III), and finally the important new approach to the characterization of various mate rials and their responses to external agencies by the use of proba bilistic micromechanics (part IV). We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Prof. F. P. J. Rimrott, and the President of the CSME, Prof. T. S."

In these proceedings, it is shown that thermodynamical concepts are not 'old fashioned' but still are most useful at the frontiers of modern science. Among the contributors are well-known experts such as Andresen (Copenhagen), Eu (Montreal), Gro mann (Marburg), Kawasaki (Fuhuoha), Maugin (Paris), Nicolis (Bruxelles) and Szepfalusy (Budapest). The subject covers a wide field including: recent developments in phenomenological thermodynamics, statistical foundation of thermodynamical concepts, thermodynamical concepts in nonlinear dynamics, applications to nonlinear (neural) networks, stochastic theory and transition processes.