Many materials would have compressive strength easily, just by being relatively uncompressible.
But most loads have a (troublesome) tensile component. Fundamentally, the ability of a rigid material to resist deformation (in the most general sense) is what is most important, and that requires tensile strength.
Many materials would have compressive strength easily, just by being relatively uncompressible.
But most loads have a (troublesome) tensile component. Fundamentally, the ability of a rigid material to resist deformation (in the most general sense) is what is most important, and that requires tensile strength.
See this comment elsewhere in this sub-thread that explains it probably better than I did: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43904800