Introduction to Soft Matter: Polymers, Colloids, Amphiphiles and Liquid Crystals

Book Description

Provides an introduction to this exciting subject with chapters covering natural and synthetic polymers, colloids, surfactants, and liquid crystals, highlighting the many and varied applications of these materials.

The only introductory book on this subject
Cutting-edge introduction to a new and emerging subject area
An interdisciplinary approach suitable of chemistry, materials science, physics, and biochemistry courses
Copious end-of-chapter problems

Customer Reviews:

A concised and unified overview on soft matter.......2004-01-19

This book contains a concised overview on soft matter physics or what chemists use to call colloid chemistry. As stated by the author in the Preface, it has been written primarily for undergraduate students. However, it should be also useful to researchers that are looking for a unified view of the subject. The book is organized in five chapters: 1) Introduction, 2) Polymers, 3) Colloids, 4) Amphiphiles, and 5) Liquid crystals. Each chapter includes both FURTHER READING and QUESTIONS sections (numerical solutions to the questions are provided at the end of the book). All in all this quasi-pocket book appear to have reached its scope, I think, and hence I rated it with five stars. Readers that want to dig deeper into this subject may consult the book Soft Matter Physics: an Introduction, by Kleman and Lavrentovich (648 pp). Those wishing to take an intermediate step, may consult the recently published book Soft Condensed Matter by Jones (230 pp).

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Soft Matter, emphasis on Liquid Crystals

Soft Matter Physics: An Introduction
Maurice Kleman , and Oleg D. Lavrentovich
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0387952675

Book Description

Many materials have complex structural and dynamic properties intermediate between those of crystals and fluids. Among these are liquid crystals, with their well-known orientational order; colloids; polymer solutions and melts; foams; and gels; collectively these have come to be called "soft matter." These materials generally consist of organic molecules that interact weakly; as a result, thermal fluctuations, external fields, and boundary effects strongly influence their structure and properties. This sensitivity raises interesting new problems in basic physics, chemistry, and materials science; offers a path of thinking about some processes in biological systems; and opens numerous possibilities for technological applications. This textbook for graduate students in physics or chemical physics begins with a discussion of chemical bonds, interactions between particles, and the resulting molecular arrangements. The concept of order parameter leads to a discussion of phase transitions, elasticity and dynamics, followed by a review of fractals and growth phenomena. A significant portion of the book deals with defects of topological nature that accompany various types of order. The book concludes with chapters on surface phenomena, stability of colloidal systems, and structural properties of polymers. The detailed exposition, the emphasis on physical principles, and the exercises at the end of each chapter will make this book a valuable introduction for graduate students and researchers to this rapidly growing field.

Customer Reviews:

Soft Matter, emphasis on Liquid Crystals.......2006-03-25

Soft Matter Physics by Oleg and Maurice presents a very comprehensive account of the fundamental principles critical to understanding the phase behavior, disinclinations, defects, elasticity and dynamics of anisotropic phases. The material covered will be of interest to everyone even remotely connected with the study of liquid crystals.

The discussions are fairly recent, and the emphasis is on leading the reader through nearly every aspect of liquid crystal behavior, explained through a rich collection of equations, diagrams and analogies. A good understanding of this matter automatically leads to understanding of the other soft materials like colloids and polymers, that are discussed in last two chapters of the book. This book is uniquely useful in the detailed discussion of nematodynamics, elasticity of mesomorphic phases, dynamics of defects and disinclinations, liquid crystal order and phase transitions, fractals and growth phenomenon, drops of anistropic fluids: the insight offered for these topics makes it a must buy for the graduate students and scientists fascinated by LC phases.

One may wish to start with P. J. Collins to appreciate the beautiful science of liquid crystals, (its a book without equations), follow it up with this treatise to comprehend the mathematical details of phenomenon, then delve into the classic by de Gennes to learn the concepts from the master, and I guess finish off with Chaikin and Lubensky to become an expert in aspects related to liquid crystalline phases.

Book Description

Just as kids are evaluated and put on a certain academic track from a very early age, so, too, are employees assessed and evaluated from week one on the job. Employees, like kids, often wind up "living into" the expectations set for them by those in authority, despite their true capacities.

In the ever-present challenge of walking the tightrope between wanting to give employees freedom and needing to stay informed, supervisors go down one of two paths with each employee: controlling or empowering. If managers successfully negotiate this balance, the relationship and the employee typically thrive. However, as is often the case, managers can lose their balance. The set-up-to-fail syndrome (SUTFS) occurs with the balance tips toward control rather than empowerment.

Whether they're aware of it or not, managers do not treat all employees the same. Their behavior toward employees depends on the earliest perceptions of each person's performance. In particular, managers tend to behave in far more controlling ways toward their perceived weaker performers. This behavior often results in a vicious cycle whereby an employee gets discouraged by his manager's behavior toward him and increasingly under-performs. Not only does the employee stop trying, but the manager loses an opportunity to fully utilize the employee's strengths. Once in this cycle, managers become unable to see the employee's behavior through any other lens, which is a recipe for disaster.

Building on "The Set-Up-to-Fail-Syndrome" article in Harvard Business Review (March-April 1998), Manzoni and Barsoux offer this powerful insight into a dynamic all-too-familiar to any manager: we set the expectations for those around us. When someone seems "on" we manage him or her with enthusiasm. However, in some cases, we find ourselves avoiding contact with an employee, micro-managing, and ultimately sabotaging an employee because the relationship has clearly gone south. The authors show managers how to recogniz e SUTF relationships, and most importantly, how to reverse them before it's too late. The authors also show how managers can stay balanced and prevent this dysfunctional set-up-to-fail dynamic from the start, triggering positive performance spirals with all of their employees.

Customer Reviews:

Counter-intuitive, but it makes perfect sense..........2007-04-26

The book The Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome: Overcoming the Undertow of Expectations by Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux is one of those titles that presents a concept that is counter-intuitive to most managers. But once you have it explained, the light comes on and you realize just how correct the idea is.

Contents: The Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome; When Common Sense Fails Us; Set-Up-To-Fail - A Vicious Cycle; Labels, Biases, and Misperceptions; Colluding to Collide; The Cost Iceberg; Blinders of Our Own Making; Cracking the Syndrome; Preventing the Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome - Lessons from the "Syndrome Busters"; Getting There; Notes; Index; About the Authors

The idea here involves what happens to underperforming employees when their supervisors attempt to "help" them. The supervisor sees that a particular employee isn't at the level that's expected. Their natural first step is to start coaching them, offering feedback on how to perform better. But in far too many cases, the employee resents the implications of underperformance. This leads to either withdrawal from the job or hesitancy to make decisions for fear of making a mistake. These actions reenforce the judgement of the supervisor, leading to more "help". At that point, the downward spiral has begun, with little chance of improvement. Both sides become entrenched in their mental framework. So instead of helping an employee improve, the supervisor has unwittingly set them up for failure.

The authors describe this situation in all-too-familar clarity, and I was amazed at how much sense it made once you changed your perspective. It was scary to see their research on how quickly these underperformance impressions are formed. In many cases, these signals start coming from the boss within hours. What's worse is that the residual damage can go on for years, even after the situation is resolved in one way or another. The Cracking chapter puts forth a solid format for breaking the cycle, setting expectations on both sides, and how the results can be measured without the emotional baggage that so often comes with these scenarios. Even the simple act of being aware of the syndrome can dramatically change the way you practice your management style.

In terms of being practical and useful, this book delivers solid value. It doesn't matter how big or small your business is, or whether you've been managing for years or weeks. After reading Set-Up-To-Fail, you'll be unable to offer feedback or coaching in the same way again... or at least you'll feel guilty if things don't work out the way you'd expect...

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Still Afloat

Undertow: A Novel
Lynn Stegner
Manufacturer: Baskerville Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Fata Morgana: A Novel

ASIN: 1880909022

Customer Reviews:

Still Afloat.......1999-04-11

This is a decent book, why has no one else bothered to write a review? This story will make you miss California even if you've never lived there. A likeable, independent woman, Anne, finds her way through relationships and career. She manages to stay afloat despite the forces wanting to pull her under. The book is rather relationship-heavy, however. I wanted to enter more into the marine biology aspect of the novel. I nodded knowingly at Elliot's fence-sitting because I know a non-committal modern man just like him. So exasperating but so real. Try this one. Stegner is a solid writer who knows how to drum up atmosphere like the drippy and streaky existence on Vancouver Island.

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Undertow
Kiki Kjaer
Manufacturer: Amerotica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 156163185X

Book Description

In the sexually free days, young, beautiful Marta goes for a vacation to be with her friend on her isolated beach house. The warm sun, lazy beach breezes and sensuous group of friends slowly but surely take over the senses. In such surroundings, clothes become useless and lustful desires flow naturally.

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Fans will appreciate this watery science fiction thriller

Undertow (Bantam Science Fiction)
Elizabeth Bear
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0553589059
Release Date: 2007-07-31

Book Description

A frontier world on the back end of nowhere is the sort of place people go to get lost. And some of those people have secrets worth hiding, secrets that can change the future–assuming there is one. . . .

André Deschênes is a hired assassin, but he wants to be so much more. If only he can find a teacher who will forgive his murderous past–and train him to manipulate odds and control probability. It’s called the art of conjuring, and it’s André’s only route to freedom. For the world he lives on is run by the ruthless Charter Trade Company, and his floating city, Novo Haven, is little more than a company town where humans and aliens alike either work for one tyrannical family–or are destroyed by it. But beneath Novo Haven’s murky waters, within its tangled bayous, reedy banks, and back alleys, revolution is stirring. And one more death may be all it takes to shift the balance. . . .

Customer Reviews:

Fans will appreciate this watery science fiction thriller.......2007-08-11

On the backwater colony and mining planet Greene's world, a mostly oceanic orb, the Charter Trade Company mines petroleum and omelite, a valuable substance controlled by the firm's upper management. Native ranids who are civilized water species are used as forced coolie labor. They live mostly in water so they play a big role in the underwater mining.

Sometimes a secret gets out and the company has to deal with it. Andre Deschenes is an assassin who wants to be a conjurer man so he can scientifically change his world and control to a degree the probable outcome of events. The company assigns him to kill Lucienne, his girlfriend Cricket's friend. Some ranids with humans backing them are calling for a revolution and Cricket has a data dump in her head from Lucienne, given moments before she died that may be the key to getting the company off Greene's World. The ranids know more than humans believe possible and are prepared to do what is necessary to keep their world whole healthy and clean.

The ranids are intelligent amphibians but most humans don't see it because verbal communication between the species is impossible. UNDERTOW would make a great movie as human corporate conspiracies place everyone on or near the planet in danger; human and ranids try to save their destabilizing planet. Fans will appreciate this watery science fiction thriller

Harriet Klausner

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A stronger emphasis on mystery
Undertow...
Best yet by McCourtney!

Undertow (Julesburg Mystery Series #3)
Lorena McCourtney
Manufacturer: Fleming H. Revell Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0800757785

Customer Reviews:

A stronger emphasis on mystery.......2005-05-08

The Nevermore Theater is at the center of Undertow, the newest Julesburg Mystery by Lorena McCourtney. "Site of the town's long-ago unsolved murder, the theater sat on Julesburg's main street, its wood-shingled sides mossy and weather-beaten, a few cryptic letters still clinging to the marquee. Totally nondescript except for the vertical 'NEVERMORE' name sign still straight as a knife blade, and the double front doors painted a garish blood red."

When Angie Harrison leaves her high profile modeling career in New York, Paris and other exotic locales she moves to Julesburg [Oregon] and buys the Julesburg Herald. "Established 1937. Twelve pages, publication every Wednesday, circulation 2,500, price 50 cents. Angie Harrison, editor and publisher. Not the New York Times. Not the Chicago Tribune. But it's mine, all mine Angie ... exulted as she fingered the computer printout of the new masthead."

As chief cook and bottle washer and her own star reporter, Angie decides that her first big series will be an attempt to invigorate interest in the "history and character", the charm and scandal associated with many of the old buildings situated around town. Some of them are known for their historic roots, such as the old brewery that operated up until Prohibition closed it down, to the one she considers the most fascinating ... in town, the Nevermore. This particular building, however, is one tour buses would probably pass by.

" ... So many people associated with [it] have had terrible misfortunes. Some people believe in the tales of a curse or a ghost or an evil spirit lurking in the old theater. Others scoff at such stories as superstitious nonsense. There is, however, no denying that the list of disasters connected with the [building] has been long and tragic. It started with the original owners ... who died when a tree ... blew over and crushed them. It went on to the deaths of Harry Llewelyn, Vance Spohn, Amelia Swarthout and death or [critical] injuries to many others." Most of these events may have been "tragic coincidences" but could anyone be absolutely sure ... or is it possible that those who were struck down happened as a result of a malignant force at work?

While Angie sets about to find out as much as she can about the theater, and to strengthen the newspaper she can't quite forget that she ran away from her big city life, her lover, and she is haunted by events she is ashamed of. She is wrestling with personal demons that have given her nightmares for at least five years. Her choice to come to Julesburg was not the result of sticking a pin in a map. Rather, her older brother and his wife live in this small community and her first order of personal business is to mend the fences between all of them. Both Ryan and Stephanie are fiercely religious people with forgiving hearts and embrace Angie with deep love and support. But, when Steph announces her pregnancy a cloud moves into the younger woman's heart and even though her relatives don't probe they are aware of her pain. They gingerly suggest that she returns to her faith and looks to God for help with whatever troubles her. She demurs.

The Harrisons hope Angie will stay with them for awhile to keep her expenses down and to be with family after such a long separation. But the headstrong and independent young woman is adamant, she states she needs her own space and yearns for privacy. She is eager to begin to meet the townspeople, she is vigilant about her responsibilities and if anything creeps into her consciousness of a negative nature she refuses to confront it. She rents an isolated house and moves in with high hopes for her new life.

But even though Angie has fled from her past she realizes that those years are not ready to be ignored. Nightmares, cold sweats, indecision, second guesses and the reappearance of the men in her life make forgetting impossible. This problem is exacerbated when her dearest friend Kristi Yamori goes missing in the big apple and later turns up dead. A serial killer is roaming around New York carving up young women and Ms. Yamori is thought to be another one of his victims. Angie learns of her friend's demise from Ethan, her college sweetheart, the man she would have married if her dream of becoming a cover girl had not come true.

In a convoluted and complex tangle of suspenseful circumstances and secret assignations, the web of relationships in Angie's life take on sinister overtones. And despite her former sophisticated international lifestyle she is portrayed as a "good" person who has never lost her center. She may have not turned to God in years but her ties to Him were never completely broken. Her integrity and her innate ability to trust, make it hard for her to believe that some of the people in her life could be evil. She struggles with this throughout the book until she is forced to make a life altering decision.

McCourtney is a fine writer with more than two-dozen books written under several pseudonyms. She says of her career, "Finally, after 24 published romance novels, the Lord made plain that it was time [for me to move into another phase of writing]. I switched exclusively to Christian fiction. The first six of these books were with the Palisades line of Christian romance, but with my seventh book of Christian fiction, Whirlpool, [the first of a trilogy she wraps up with Undertow] I turned to a stronger emphasis on mystery".

Undertow..........2003-11-04

A need to begin a new life drives Angie Harrison to leave behind a promising, but costly modeling career to buy a newspaper in a small Oregon town. She has plans for opening its office in an old, haunted theater, but she is not strictly in control of what is to be. Old deaths cry out for justice, and a new murder,that of one of Angie's own friends, demand justice. Angie is determined to find out the truth. Maybe solving the case will drown out the pain that has kept her far from God and from those who love her.

Angie will have to face death in more ways than one before she learns the truth, and before she faces it. In a life and death moment, she realizes that she only has one chance to find salvation, even if she can not escape with her life.

*** This is a powerful, gritty novel that dares to have very flawed and human characters. White washed saints have no place here. Ms. McCourtney frankly lets readers know that Christians are real, and sinful people who need forgiveness. ***

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

Best yet by McCourtney!.......2003-10-29

"The past is behind me." Or so Angie Harrison, UNDERTOW'S heroine, would like to think.

Yet these five words may not be as true as she hopes. She's left her high paying modeling career and stockbroker boyfriend in New York, moved to Julesburg, and become editor of the local paper, all in an attempt to run from the dark shadows of her past. But has she run far enough? And can she ever escape the shadows lurking in her heart?

Without question, UNDERTOW is the best story yet in award-winning storyteller, Lorena McCourtney's Julesburg mystery series. In addition to the re-appearance of Ryan and Stephanie (from Whirlpool), readers will be pleased to discover the return of one more familiar character in UNDERTOW. The character? The hauntingly historic Nevermore Theatre!

As Angie looks for news stories in her small, uneventful town, she realizes her best story waits beneath the knife-like billboard of the Nevermore.

Is the place truly haunted, as many in Julesburg believe? Or is the frightening list of suicides, drownings and accidents that happened in the lives of past owners merely coincidental? And what about the unsolved murder that took place within its sagging gold walls thirty years ago?

Despite warnings from local townspeople, Angie begins digging into the checkered history of the theatre. But the murder of a close friend, a visit from her abusive ex-boyfriend, and the return of a long lost love are just the first currents of a terrible undertow that soon surrounds her.

Can she turn to God with the torment of her past and the fears of her present? Or will the cloak of secrets and evil that surrounds the Nevermore suffocate her heart and perhaps her very life?

Not just an enjoyable read, but also a powerful tale of fatal choices and victorious forgiveness. UNDERTOW is highly recommended!

Book Description

In his latest investiagion, private eye Cliff Hardy comes to the aid of retired senior policeman and longtime friend, Frank Parker. Haunted by a case from his early career involving two doctors, Parker needs Hardy to uncover the truth and find out if one of the doctors, now deceased, was wrongly convicted and if Parker was blinded by the passion he had for the presumed-guilty doctor’s wife. Granite-faced Hardy discovers that teasing out the truth is not easy as he sorts through old memories, aging names and faces, and his friend’s guilt while encountering the likes of dodgy plastic surgeons, a broken-down ex-copper, a voyeuristic cripple, and a hired hit man who wields a mean baseball bat. Animosities, arrogance, and ambition create a dangerous spider’s web around this reluctant hero as Hardy searches for the hard truth.

Death Undertow: A Chief Inspector Odhiambo Mystery

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Death Undertow: A Chief Inspector Odhiambo Mystery
Dennis J. Casley
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312136439

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Undertow

Manufacturer: New English Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000DILH7Y

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Blue Undertow
Christopher J. Garraty
Manufacturer: AuthorHouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1420869566

Book Description

Drug busts, shady land deals, sex for jobs and an egg fight; that's just Chapter One. All Officer Dick Cambridge wants is to go to work, enforce the law and have a little fun. Cambridge and his circle of friends while away the hours playing pranks and keeping the administration on their toes. When a routine car stop uncovers an up and coming organized crime figure, business turns serious. People die, others disappear. Follow Officer Cambridge and friends as they investigate who is behind the murders and a waterfront restaurant in the sleepy shore town before it's too late. With mob hits, police shoot outs and flirtatious waitresses, Blue Undertow will keep you guessing and amused until the explosive ending.

5 Titles By Browning - The Security Man - Keegan's Hunt - Look What the Stork Brougth - Hawk and the Honey - Undertow

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5 Titles By Browning - The Security Man - Keegan's Hunt - Look What the Stork Brougth - Hawk and the Honey - Undertow
Dixie Browning
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000QJBGIA

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Multiple books shipped as one item. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.

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