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The evolution of infinitesimal material line and surface elements in homogeneous isotropic turbulence is studied using velocity-gradient data generated by direct numerical simulations (DNS). The mean growth rates of length ratio ( l ) and area ratio ( A ) of material elements are much smaller than previously estimated by Batchelor (1952) owing to the effects of vorticity and of non-persistent straining. The probability density functions (p.d.f.'s) of l /〈 l 〉 and A /〈 A 〉 do not attain stationarity as hypothesized by Batchelor (1952). It is shown analytically that the random variable l /〈 l 〉 cannot be stationary if the variance and integral timescale of the strain rate along a material line are non-zero and DNS data confirm that this is indeed the case. The application of the central limit theorem to the material element evolution equations suggests that the standardized variables $\hat{l}(\equiv (\ln l - \langle \ln l\rangle)/({\rm var} l)^{\frac{1}{2}})$ and  (≡(ln A − 〈ln A 〉)/(var A ) ½ ) should attain stationary distributions that are Gaussian for all Reynolds numbers. The p.d.f.s of $\hat{l}$ and  calculated from DNS data appear to attain stationary shapes that are independent of Reynolds number. The stationary values of the flatness factor and super-skewness of both $\hat{l}$ and  are in close agreement with those of a Gaussian distribution. Moreover, the mean and variance of ln l (and ln A ) grow linearly in time (normalized by the Kolmogorov timescale, τ η ), at rates that are nearly independent of Reynolds number. The statistics of material volume-element deformation are also studied and are found to be nearly independent of Reynolds number. An initially spherical infinitesimal volume of fluid deforms into an ellipsoid. It is found that the largest and the smallest of the principal axes grow and shrink respectively, exponentially in time at comparable rates. Consequently, to conserve volume, the intermediate principal axis remains approximately constant. The performance of the stochastic model of Girimaji & Pope (1990) for the velocity gradients is also studied. The model estimates of the growth rates of 〈ln l 〉 and 〈ln A 〉 are close to the DNS values. The growth rate of the variances are estimated by the model to within 17%. The stationary distributions of $\hat{l}$ and  obtained from the model agree very well with those calculated from DNS data. The model also performs well in calculating the statistics of material volume-element deformation.