The book provides a detailed quantitative study and characterization of the physics of the thermal and viscoelastic behavior of mainly amorphous materials, and addresses a readership of both undergraduate (Part I and the two first chapters of Part II) and graduate students and junior researchers (Parts II and III). Though the discussion and examples concentrate on polymer materials, Part II illustrates the potential universality of the proposed most recent treatment - a Cooperative Theory of Materials Dynamics (CTMD) - and its ability to portray the 11 major physical characteristics of the materials' behavior by an alternative view of the thermal equilibrium and non-equilibrium dynamics at the "micro-scale", the still challenging problem of the glass transition and glass transition temperature, how partial crosslinking or crystallization limits the response, the expected impact of molecular packing, and of a few other open challenges. Part III discusses three specific domains where new applications and extensions of CTMD might be explored, while three Appendixes collect a few quantitative details and extensions of the treatment.

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José Joaquim C. Cruz Pinto was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1948, graduated in Chemical Engineering in IST, University of Lisbon (1971) and in ENSIC ("Section Spéciale"), University of Nancy, France (1972), obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at UMIST, Manchester (1975-79) and his Full Professorship in 1994. Taught and conducted research in the Universities of Mozambique (1972-75), Minho (1978-97) and Aveiro (1997-2011) in Chemical Engineering (since 1972) and Polymer Materials Science (since 1979). Since his retirement in 2011, among his hobbies and projects, he keeps his interest in the most challenging but entertaining subject of the cooperative dynamics of polymers and other materials. He lives at Ílhavo, Portugal, married to Ana Nery.

José Reinas S. André was born in Guarda, Portugal, in 1962, graduated in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Coimbra in 1985, obtained his M. Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Minho in 1992 and his Ph. D. in the same field at the University of Aveiro in 2004. He teaches and does research at the Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Inland Development Research Unit, since 1987, where he is Coordinating Professor. He lives in V. N. Foz Côa, Portugal, married to Raquel André with two daughters, Cláudia and Filipa André