Fragile Objects: Soft Matter, Hard Science, and the Thrill of DiscoveryOver the past few decades we have learned a great deal about the behavior of such materials as liquid crystals, emulsions and colloids, polymers, and complex molecules. These materials, called "soft matter" ("matière fragile" in French), have neither the rigid structure and crystalline symmetry of a solid nor the uniformity and disorder of a fluid or a gas. They have unusual and fascinating properties: some change their viscosity at our beck and call; others form layers of two-dimensional liquids; some are polarized, their molecules all oriented in the same direction and turning in unison at our command; others make up the foams, bubbles, waxes, gums, and many other items we take for granted every day. De Gennes, one of the world's leading experts on these strange forms of matter, here addresses topics ranging from soft-matter physics - the formation of rubber, the nature and uses of gum arabic, the wetting and de-wetting of surfaces, and the mysterious properties of bubbles and foams - to the activities of science: the role of individual or team work, the relation of discovery to correction, and the interplay of conscience and knowledge. In the best tradition of science writing, this book teaches us about both our world and ourselves. |
Other editions - View all
Fragile Objects: Soft Matter, Hard Science, and the Thrill of Discovery Pierre-Gilles de Gennes,Jacques Badoz No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
Alfred Kastler atoms Auguste Comte boat CH Deoxyribonucleic bubbles carbon black CH Deoxyribonucleic acid chains chemical chemist Claude Allègre Collège de France Deoxyribonucleic acid Deoxyribonucleic acid CH2 developed dewetting disciplines drop École Normale École Normale Supérieure electric energy engineers entrance examination exam example experiment experimental field Figure film fluid force French Friedel fundamental Georges Friedel grains high school higher education industry Institute of Physics institutes of higher invented Jacques Monod knowledge laboratory layer liquid crystals Lycée macromolecules math mathematics mechanics meters molecules nematic nuclear observation particles periments phenomenon physicist Physics and Chemistry Pierre-Gilles de Gennes plastic polar polymers polyox possible preparatory problem properties questions scientific scientists smectic soap soft matter solid structure superconductivity surfactant teach teachers theoretical thermal agitation tion Translator's note tunaway boat wetting young Yves Rocard zone