The fatigue of metals is reviewed from the earliest days to the present time in an attempt to predict the future of this multi-disciplinary subject. Failures of engineering artefacts including railway axles, gas and steam turbine components, ball bearings, aeroplanes, ships, oil rigs and nuclear plant, are cited as the major driving force for fatigue research. Despite the early contributions of many scientists, it is seen that an understanding of the mechanics of fatigue crack growth for both shear and tensile types of cracks has provided the impetus for the greatest advance in knowledge. In the future however it will become increasingly important to combine the expertise of scientists in as many as eight disciplines in order to solve problems where, for example, both defect size and cyclic crack growth increments are measured on the sub-micron to atomic scales. Above all, the subject of metal fatigue requires integrated knowledge from researchers in both academe and industry if future substantial losses from fatigue failures in terms of human life, environment degradation, and the financial burden to society are to be dramatically reduced.
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