The renaissance of continuum mechanics

Continuum mechanics, just as the name implies, deals with the mechanics problems of all continua, whose physical (or mechanical) properties are assumed to vary continuously in the spaces they occupy. Continuum mechanics may be seen as the symbol of modern mechanics, which differs greatly from current physics, the two often being mixed up by people and even scientists. In this short paper, I will first try to give an illustration on the differences between (modern) mechanics and physics, in my personal view, and then focus on some important current research activities in continuum mechanics, attempting to identify its path to the near future. We can see that continuum mechanics, while having a dominating impact on engineering design in the 20th century, also plays a pivotal role in modern science, and is much closer to physics, chemistry, biology, etc. than ever before.