Nonconvexity and nonsmoothness arise in a large class of engineering applica- tions. In many cases of practical importance the possibilities offered by opti- mization with its algorithms and heuristics can substantially improve the per- formance and the range of applicability of classical computational mechanics algorithms. For a class of problems this approach is the only one that really works. The present book presents in a comprehensive way the application of opti- mization algorithms and heuristics in smooth and nonsmooth mechanics. The necessity of this approach is presented to the...