The book presents in a clear, simple, straightforward, novel  and unified manner the most used methods of experimental mechanics of solids for the determination of displacements, strains and stresses. Emphasis is given on the principles of operation of the various methods, not in their applications to engineering problems. The book is divided into sixteen chapters which include strain gages, basic optics, geometric and interferometric moiré, optical methods (photoelasticity, interferometry, holography, caustics, speckle methods, digital image correlation), thermoelastic stress analysis, indentation, optical fibers, nondestructive testing, and residual stresses. The book will be used not only as a learning tool, but as a basis on which the researcher, the engineer, the experimentalist, the student can develop their new own ideas to promote research in experimental mechanics of solids.

Emmanuel Gdoutos is Full Member of the Academy of Athens in the chair of Theoretical and Experimental Mechanics (2016). He is member of many academies worldwide, fellow of scientific societies and received numerous awards.  His book “Fracture Mechanics – An Introduction, 3^rd edition” published by Springer accompanied by a solutions manual is used as a textbook by many universities worldwide. His book “Matrix Theory of Photoelasticity” published by Springer-Verlag presents a novel and unified interpretation of the problems of photoelastic stress analysis using the modern methods of description of polarized light. He is the book series editor of the Springer series “Springerbriefs in Structural Mechanics”. His research interest include problems of the theory of elasticity, fracture mechanics, experimental mechanics (with emphasis in the optical methods), mechanics of composite materials, sandwich structures and nanotechnology (composite nanomaterials).