Book Received*

Liquid Crystals :Experimental Study of Physical Properties and Phase Transitions. By Satyendra Kumar(Editor). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (http://www.cambridge.org/), December 2000. Pages: 494, Hardback. Pr ice: GBP 70.00. ISBN 0521461324.
 
 

Received: 1 December 2001

This book describes in detail various experimental techniques used in the study of liquid crystals. It will be indispensable for established workers in the field as well as students embarking on liquid crystal research. Each chapter in the book is dedicated to an important experimental technique used in the study and characterisation of liquid crystalline systems. Use of these techniques on liquid crystals requires modifications of traditional experiments, special sample handling and data analysis not discussed anywhere else. In addition, general routes used to synthesize liquid crystals and tools to characterize liquid crystal phases are described. Attempts have been made to show structure property relationships for well known systems. This book will be of particular interest to graduate students in physics and chemistry as well as established researchers in the fields of liquid crystals and soft condensed matter.

Chapter Contents

1. Introduction S. Kumar and M. Fisch; 2. Characterisation of mesophase types and transitions M. Neubert; 3. Structure: X-ray diffraction studies of liquid crystals S. Kumar; 4. Physical properties P. Photinos; 5. Orientational order - NMR studies P. Ukleja and D. Finotello; 6. Light scattering and quasi-elastic spectroscopy J. T. Ho; 7. Calorimetric studies C. W. Garland; 8. Freely suspended films experiments J. D. Brock; 9. X-ray surface scattering studies of liquid crystals S. K. Sinha; 10. Chemical structure-property relationships M. E. Neubert.

*Editor's Note: The brief summary and the contents of the books are reported as provided by the author or the publishers. Authors and publishers are encouraged to send review copies of their recent books of potential interest to readers of Molecules to the Editor-in-Chief (Dr. Shu-Kun Lin, MDPI, Saengergasse 25, CH-4054 Basel, Switzerland. Tel. +41 79 322 3379, Fax +41 61 302 8918, E-mail: [email protected]). Some books will be offered to the scholarly community for the purpose of preparing full-length reviews.