Soft solids. A primer to the theoretical mechanics of materials (Q384819)

The reviewer must confess that the term ``soft solids'' was not clear to me when I opened the book for the first time. In the preface and the introduction this question is not addressed, the index does not even contain this term. In the meantime, the author confirmed that he chose this title in order to captivate the curiosity of the reader. After having read the book, I believe that elasticity and viscoelasticity of materials like rubber and biological tissues under large deformations is meant. At least, this is where the examples in the book come from. In doing so, the book starts right at the very beginning of continuum mechanics, i.e., kinematics, deformations, stresses, balances, etc. There are three chapters on specific material theories. The first deals with finite elasticity with the usual representations by invariants and simple models from the literature. The author calls these theories explicit elasticity, in contrast to the implicit elasticity of the next chapter on constitutive theories. The latter is perhaps the most novel part of the book, since such theories are relatively new and little spread. What is meant by implicit elasticity? It is not easy to define it, but rather I describe what is excluded. Not meant is the usual elasticity or hyperelasticity, nor the usual hypoelasticity, but something which is very close to this. The starting point is a finite or a differential equation in which only stresses and strains occur but not their time derivatives etc., based on a suggestion by \textit{K. R. Rajagopal} [Appl. Math., Praha 48, No. 4, 279--319 (2003; Zbl 1099.74009)]. So there is a deterministic connection between stresses and strains, which, however, does not allow for an (explicit) function in either direction. The theory still lacks a precise mathematical foundation and, thus, makes it difficult to understand. On the other hand, a generalization of hypoelasticity seems to be promising, and many examples given in the book, are rather interesting. The third group of the presented constitutive theories is viscoelasticity. The representations of viscoelastic models that the author prefers are those of the Boltzmann type based on a convolution integral. So the task consists in finding an appropriate (scalar) heredity function by means of which a three-dimensional model can be derived. Several examples and applications to real materials are represented. The book is meant for seniors and first-year masters students. It does not assume too much knowledge of continuum mechanics to start with. However, the main part of it plays on a rather demanding level, and is close to current research activities in the field, as many quotations witness. It is surely recommendable to researchers working on bio-materials, a field of increasing interest recently.