"This publication, in two volumes, is devoted to the scientific impact of the work of Nobel Laureate, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. It covers the important fields for which de Gennes was renowned: solid state (magnetism and superconductivity), macroscopic random media and percolation, supersolids, liquid crystals, polymers, adhesion and friction, and biophysics. The book brings together internationally renowned experts to contribute their perspectives on the significance of de Gennes' works. They have each selected a definitive paper, which gives the state of the field at the time the paper was published, highlights the paper's importance and provides an analysis of the development of the field right up to the modern day. The insightful perspectives of these scientists make the book both unique and intriguing. This is the first volume devoted to solid state and liquid crystals."--World Scientific website and back cover.

Best known outside the scientific community for the Nobel Prize in Physics he won in 1991, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes was exceptional amongst scientists for the breadth and depth of his contributions in multiple fields of physics. He was also much ahead of his time in his desire to break down barriers between scientific disciplines and between fundamental and applied science. He was equally unusual in his willingness to explain the nature and purpose of his work to society at large and to young people in particular. Laurence Pl(r)vert''s fascinating work retraces the influences and experiences that moulded this complex, charismatic, charming and eclectic genius. It follows him from his unconventional childhood on the fringes of the old French aristocracy and in war-divided France, through his glittering school and early scientific career, up to the revolutionary breakthroughs in fields as diverse as superconductivity, liquid crystals, polymers and soft matter, culminating in the final consecration of the Nobel prize. Constructed from exclusive interviews with the physicist himself, his family, friends and colleagues, this biography immerses us in the work and character of a truly remarkable figure, a Renaissance man of the 20th centur