A perspective paper on material failure theory and applications

The Perspective papers published in Journal of Applied Mechanics have attracted a lot of readers, such as the first perspective paper by Huajian Gao (Brown University) which has been downloaded for >8,000 times.  A perspective paper, as invited by the editor of JAM, is very short (2~3 pages) and easy to read (like Readers' Digest) to reveal some emerging directions, or some important discoveries in clasical directions, in mechanics.  A new perspective paper on the material failure theory and applications, by Richard Christensen (Stanford University), is published in the November issue of JAM, 2016.  This paper highlights the past, current and future of the material failure theory and applications.  The paper is attached.