The history of the materials cameras are made of can be established as two distinct histories, because the history

of the lenses of a camera is much older than the history of the other parts the camera. In the 1600s Galileo set out to improve an invention he found out about; it was a telescope like optical instrument. By making his own lenses and putting together different lenses, Galileo drastically improved the magnification of the device and hence invented what is known today as the telescope. Before the invention of camera itself, scientist such as Robert Hooke, used optics to describe observations made using a microscope. Joseph Nicphore Nipce who is considered as one of the inventors of cameras experimented with different methods to develop what is now known as photography, it is recognized that his heliographic method is the first successful example of photography. Regarding the other parts of the camera which did not comprise the lens, it mainly consisted of well finished wood. These parts of the camera were handmade with much care by a cabinetmaker. Some manufacturing techniques used in watch-making and clock making were later utilized to make the aperture and the shutter of the camera , these techniques involved the use of metal. In the early years of photography, cameras were expensive pieces of equipment only used by few people who had the money and expertise to practice photography. This aspect of camera usage only changed after the introduction of cheap boxes of camera, and of celluloid-backed film; these two inventions led to a mass market usages of cameras and since camera makers wanted a share of this profitable industry, they competed by introducing different ways to make cameras such as with precision-engineered steel bodies and control mechanisms. In the 1960s aluminum would replace steel as the body of the camera, then magnesium would replace aluminum, and finally titanium would replace magnesium due to its prestige, its durability and its low weight. Materials such as titanium were not only use in camera making because of their beneficial properties, but also because they conveyed prestige and wealth. With the discovery of new materials such as polymers and the improvement of manufacturing methods such as molding, camera makers used these new technologies to make more efficient and even cheaper cameras for the mass markets. By now the aspect of camera making is still improving and some novel methods to manufacture camera lenses are being investigated. It is quite clear that camera making will greatly benefit from the exponential growth of the material science and the material selection field of study.

The history of aircraft materials is a very dynamic history with lots of changes. The first planes that were manufactured were mainly made of wood, steel wire and silk. The Wright brothers for example used wood when making the first airplane. After the making of the first airplane, wood will be used as the main material for airplanes for many more years due to the heavy weight of metals and the difficulty to mold them. As time passes however and new discoveries are made a new manufacturing method for airplanes is developed. This manufacturing method invented by Jack Norton would allow a decrease in the weight of the airplanes, but it is also found that it worked best with metals even though the costs were higher. Airplanes becoming more and more a part of peoples life; this would increase the numbers of passengers and hence drive a demand for bigger planes. With the demand for larger airplanes, wood had to be replaced by another material. And in the mid 1930s most commercial airplanes will be made of aluminum which was a cheaper material than other metals used at the time and which facilitated lower prices of manufacturing, weight and technical maintenance for major airline companies. For the rest of the twentieth century aluminum will be used, but by the end of the twentieth century the demand for lower fuel consumption and more economically viable airplanes that pollute less will lead to the use of composites materials for airplane making. The advantage of composite material is that they are strong and lightweight at the same time. These properties led companies such as airbus to make planes that consumed less and were much lighter. Even to this day however, composite materials are still very expensive and difficult to manufacture; because of these reasons they are not being used as much as they should be. The military is a big consumer of composite materials and has produced planes that are entirely made of composites. However, composites materials have a very important role in the future of airplane making. We can see that the field of material science and material selection gives major advantages to military and commercial aviation. For military aviation it allows the constructions of lightweight airplanes that are capable of travelling great distances at high speed. For commercial aviation material selection allows the making of more economically viable planes that reduces the prices of airlines tickets for the consumer.

http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/lectures/galtel.htm http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blroberthooke.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nic%C3%A9phore_Ni%C3%A9pce http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_aviation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-3