Authored by world-leading physicists, this introductory textbook explores the basic principles of polymers, colloids, liquid crystals, wetting, and foams. It is a practical ‘toolbox’ for readers to acquire basic knowledge in the field and facilitate further reading and advanced courses. Undergraduate students in physics, biology, and the medical sciences will learn the basics of soft matter physics, in addition to scaling approaches in the spirit of the Nobel prize laureate in physics in 1991, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, the inventor of soft matter physics and close collaborator to author Françoise Brochard-Wyart. Features: Accessible and compact approach Contains exercises to enhance understanding All chapters are followed by a short 1-2 page "insert chapter" which serve as illustrations with concrete examples from everyday life (e.g. the Paris Metro, a zebrafish, a gecko, duck feathers etc.)

Authored by world-leading physicists, this introductory textbook explores the basic principles of polymers, colloids, liquid crystals, wetting, and foams. It is a practical ‘toolbox’ for readers to acquire basic knowledge in the field and facilitate further reading and advanced courses. Undergraduate students in physics, biology, and the medical sciences will learn the basics of soft matter physics, in addition to scaling approaches in the spirit of the Nobel prize laureate in physics in 1991, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, the inventor of soft matter physics and close collaborator to author Françoise Brochard-Wyart. Features: Accessible and compact approach Contains exercises to enhance understanding All chapters are followed by a short 1-2 page "insert chapter" which serve as illustrations with concrete examples from everyday life (e.g. the Paris Metro, a zebrafish, a gecko, duck feathers etc.)

This book reviews different aspects of the cancer microenvironment, and its regulation and importance for tumor progression. Methodological advancements and practical applications, in terms of how biomarkers are studied and increasingly included in clinical trials and therapy protocols, are described and discussed. Biomarkers of the Tumor Microenvironment is an educational resource for students and members of the cancer research community as a whole, especially for those using morphology analysis techniques and models focusing on the cross-talk between different cell types in tumors. The textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the microenvironment in various contexts from the perspectives of experienced and accomplished cancer researchers and clinicians.

“Soft matter” is nowadays used to describe an increasingly important class of - terials that encompasses polymers, liquid crystals, molecular assemblies building hierarchical structures, organic-inorganic hybrids, and the whole area of colloidal science. Common to all is that ?uctuations, and thus the thermal energy k T and B entropy, play an important role. “Soft” then means that these materials are in a state of matter that is neither a simple liquid nor a hard solid of the type studied in hard condensed matter, hence sometimes many types of soft matter are also named “c- plex ?uids. ” Soft matter, either of synthetic or biological origin, has been a subject of physical and chemical research since the early ?nding of Staudinger that long chain mo- cules exist. From then on, synthetic chemistry as well as physical characterization underwent an enormous development. One of the outcomes is the abundant pr- ence of polymeric materials in our everyday life. Nowadays, methods developed for synthetic polymers are being more and more applied to biological soft matter. The link between modern biophysics and soft matter physics is quite close in many respects. This also means that the focus of research has moved from simple - mopolymers to more complex structures, such as branched objects, heteropolymers (random copolymers, proteins), polyelectrolytes, amphiphiles and so on.

This series presents critical reviews of the present and future trends in polymer and biopolymer science including chemistry, physical chemistry, physics and materials science. It is addressed to all scientists at universities and in industry who wish to keep abreast of advances in the topics covered. Impact Factor Ranking: Always number one in Polymer Science. More information as well as the electronic version of the whole content available at: www.springerlink.com

Essential NMR gives scientists and engineers an easy and quick refresher on their NMR knowledge and skills. At the same time, this primer and review affords lecturers material to provide a deliver a framework of basic know-how covering all fields of NMR, i.e. NMR methodology and hardware, chemical analysis, 2D-spectroscopy, NMR imaging, flow NMR, and quality-control NMR. Concise explanatory text, with the key information, is enhanced a color illustration that graphically reinforces understanding. Rigorous derivations are avoided in favor of intuitive arguments. No other teaching-and-learning text addresses all the different aspects of NMR in such a comprehensive and concise fashion.

Soft Matter science is concerned with soft materials such as polymers, colloids, liquid crystals, and foams, and has emerged as a rich interdisciplinary field over the last 30 years. Drawing on physics, chemistry, mathematics and engineering, soft matter links fundamental scientific ideas to everyday phenomena. One such example is 'polymers', encountered in plastic materials and melted cheese, which illustrate how 'sliminess' emerges from the flow and form of giant molecules. This Very Short Introduction delves into the field of soft matter, looking beneath the appearances of matter into its inner structure. Tom McLeish shows how Brownian Motion - the random local motion of molecules that gives rise to 'heat' - is an underlying principle of soft matter. From hair conditioner to honey, he discusses how the shared physical properties and characteristics of these materials influence the way they behave, and their industrial applications. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This successful and widely-reviewed book covering the physics of condensed matter systems is now available in paperback.

This book presents a compilation of self-contained chapters covering a wide range of topics within the broad field of soft condensed matter. Each chapter starts with basic definitions to bring the reader up-to-date on the topic at hand, describing how to use fluid flows to generate soft materials of high value either for applications or for basic research. Coverage includes topics related to colloidal suspensions and soft materials and how they differ in behavior, along with a roadmap for researchers on how to use soft materials to study relevant physics questions related to geometrical frustration.

This volume presents a comprehensive perspective on the global scientific, technological, and societal impact of nanotechnology since 2000, and explores the opportunities and research directions in the next decade to 2020. The vision for the future of nanotechnology presented here draws on scientific insights from U.S. experts in the field, examinations of lessons learned, and international perspectives shared by participants from 35 countries in a series of high-level workshops organized by Mike Roco of the National Science Foundation (NSF), along with a team of American co-hosts that includes Chad Mirkin, Mark Hersam, Evelyn Hu, and several other eminent U.S. scientists. The study performed in support of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) aims to redefine the R&D goals for nanoscale science and engineering integration and to establish nanotechnology as a general-purpose technology in the next decade. It intends to provide decision makers in academia, industry, and government with a nanotechnology community perspective of productive and responsible paths forward for nanotechnology R&D.