The history of materials is examined with emphasis upon the structural differences at stages of discovery, development and mature adjustment in analogy with the S-curve of a phase change. The earliest discovery of almost all useful materials or techniques occurred in making decorative objects. Alloying, shaping and welding techniques began in jewelry and sculpture; crystallization, spinodal transformation and interface energy equilibrium were sensitively used in ceramic glazes; oriental lacquer and celluloid trinkets are precursors of the plastic industry. Far from being an applied science, practice in materials was far in advance of physical and chemical theory until less than a century ago. Chemistry came from dying, pot making and particularly the quantitative separatory reactions of the assayer. The discovery of electricity gave a new type of property to be studied, and the richness of today's approach to materials came from the subsequent joining of the physicist's approach with the other threads that had been maturing through the ages. Technology is a rich part of the human experience and it deserves far more attention than it has hitherto received from historians. A.A. and -- AATA