Corrosion and Protection of Metals Corrosion is not only one of the most costly forms of material degradation – it also offers a fertile area of interdisciplinary research, and can even be harnessed to make useful products such as metallic nanostructures. A particular concern is the mechanical rupture of components due to stress corrosion cracking – the slow growth of cracks in a reactive environment. Stress corrosion failure is at the core of safety and risk analyses in several industries, including nuclear power generation. By understanding corrosion and stress corrosion mechanisms at the microscopic scale, not only can corrosion problems be mitigated, but insights can be obtained that are relevant to surprisingly remote areas of science and technology.