Sand, rice, sugar, snow, cement... Although ubiquitous in our daily lives, granular media still challenge engineers and fascinate researchers. This book provides the state-of-the-art of the physics of granular media and recent advances in the field. The book presents the fundamental properties of granular materials: interactions between grains; solid, liquid and gaseous behaviours; coupling with a fluid; and sediment transport and formation of geological structures. Descriptions of the phenomena combine qualitative and formal arguments, coming from areas as diverse as elasticity, plasticity, statistical physics, fluid mechanics and geomorphology. Many examples of the astonishing behaviours of granular media are presented, including avalanches, segregation, dune song and quicksand. This book is ideal for graduate students and researchers in physics, applied mathematics and engineering.

'Granular Media is a welcome step forward in its clarity of composition, descriptions of phenomena, and qualitative discussions and quantitative analysis of applications. The material is accessible for all graduate students in physics, chemistry, applied mathematics, and engineering. It would also serve well as a textbook for an advanced graduate course.'

Colin R. Meyer Source: Pure and Applied Geophysics

'The book is encyclopaedic in its coverage, supported by more than six hundred references. It is very well written … and will be a welcome addition to those with an interest in the subject.'

N. Riley Source: Contemporary Physics