A brief history. Distant past and new materials; Military advances in peacetime; Groundbreaking materials; United they stand: the strength of composite materials; The virtual in a material world; Towards ecological design / Raymond Guidot -- From materials to design. Natural material ; Minerals; Metals; The uncertainties of research; Shape memory materials; Plastics; Composite materals; Polymer nanocomposites; A word about stock-removal technique; So which materials should we choose? / Jean Grenier -- Digital material. The computer in the service of the designer; The digital image in the search for a cultural identity; Slot machines; Interactivity; The designer in the service of computing: first, the box...; Then software design, the art of interface, and the icon; Digital material; Silicon, a new raw material? / Jean-Baptiste Touchard -- Ecology sells. The era of industrial design; A timeof questioning; The paradigm of new materials / JeanJacques Salomon