5. Conclusion

Although ceramics have been known for thousands of years through their applications in fields as varied as art, crockery and construction, it was only in the second half of the 20th century that their so-called technical uses really took off. In materials science, if it can be said that the 19th century was the century of metals, the 20th century the century of polymers, it now seems likely that the 21st century will be the century of ceramics, given the extent to which these materials are becoming part of our everyday lives, enabling technical achievements hitherto considered impossible, from electronics to medicine, from aerospace to nuclear power.

Such is the breadth of the subject that it would be difficult to summarize each of the items covered here without falling into the trap of approximation. However, this is what has been attempted, as this article does...