It’s arguable that the whole history of mechanical engineering starts with the history of materials.
As a retired machinist,nc programmer, manufacturing engineer, and then director of research I can tell you that I learned way more about materials than just about anything else except people. I’ve had to make things using everything from wood to ceramics, and tin to nickel superalloys as well as metallic composites. It’s all about the material. ( and developing the tools and methods to work the material). How do you cut work something thats harder than your current cutting tool technology? I’m sure that has been the problem since the stone age.