The author has accomplished with this book both an unconventional and challenging project. Lev Blinov, who has been actively working in liquid crystal research for several decades, intended to write a textbook on liquid crystals for scientists and students who are not specialised in the field. This book shall fill the gap between the top-level specialised monographs on liquid crystal topics, which require a high level of prior knowledge, and popular books that leave mathematics almost completely aside. The result is a profound and comprehensive introduction into liquid crystal research and into the involved concepts, models and experimental characterisation techniques. The essence of experience and wisdom of a scientist who devoted his scientific career to liquid crystal physics lies compiled in this book for beginners in the field, for those who want to apply ideas of liquid crystal science to their work in other disciplines and for those who are simply interested in this exciting branch of soft matter physics. As a matter of fact, this branch is often under-represented in common perception, in the shadow of more spectacular progress in other areas of physics. The present book may be one small step towards a wider perception of the achievements in liquid crystal physics in the scientific community.
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