On the geometric character of stress in continuum mechanics

This paper shows that the stress field in the classical theory of continuum mechanics
may be taken to be a covector-valued differential two-form. The balance laws and other funda-
mental laws of continuum mechanics may be neatly rewritten in terms of this geometric stress. A
geometrically attractive and covariant derivation of the balance laws from the principle of energy
balance in terms of this stress is presented.