PHYSICS OF LIQUID CRYSTALS, THE

The first edition of this book has been an acknowledged classic since its publication in 1974. Its success and the great advances that have taken place in the ensuing years have made this new edition both welcome and necessary. New chapters describe the main types and properties of liquid crystals in terms of the new phases discovered since the middle of the 1970s, and advances in the understanding of local order and the nature of isotropic to nematic transition. There is an extensive discussion of the symmetry, and macroscopic and dynamic properties of smectics and columnar phases, and their defects, illustrated with numerous descriptions of experimental arrangements. The final chapter is devoted to phase transitions in smectics, including the celebrated analogy between Smectic A and superconductors. Throughout the book there is an emphasis on order-of-magnitude considerations.