This book is a collection of selected reviewed papers that were presented at the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Symposium "Mechanical waves for composite structures characterization". The Symposium took place June 14-17, 2000 in Chania, Crete, Greece. As is customary, IUTAM Symposia Proceedings are published in the series "Solid Mechanics and Its Applications" by Kluwer Academic Publishers. I am indebted to Professor G. M. L. Gladwell who is the series editor. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to Professor M. A. Hayes the...