[en] This book analyzes the physical and chemical mechanisms involved in the damaging of inorganic materials. It deals also with the modeling of these phenomena, in order to estimate the remaining potentialities of the materials, and with the present day limitations of this multi-scale approach. Two examples are analyzed in detail: the aging of nuclear glasses used for the vitrification of radioactive wastes and the mechanical wear of metals in the case of rolling friction. (J.S.)