Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Science Article about Iridescent Beetles
In a career of a scientist, a publication in Science represents an important pedestal. In my case, a long and fruitful journey, a friendship and comradeship with my friend Matija, a celebration of methods of my advisor Mohan, and a long career as student finally led to a paper that has launched me onto that pedestal. I can take additional pride in the fact that I might be among a very few people in the world who have published both in Science as scientist and in Poetry as a writer. (I had a letter published in Poetry, as my first publication in a print journal, but elusive poem in that journal remains an yet unfulfilled dream).
"Structural origin of circularly polarized iridescence in Jeweled Beetles,” V. Sharma, M. Crne, J. O. Park and M. Srinivasarao, Science, 329, 445 (2009)
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Transport Phenomena by Bird, Stewart and Lightfoot
Transport Phenomenon by Bird, Stewart and Lightfoot is one of the most useful chemical engineering textbook ever written. For nearly five decades now, many chemical engineers have lived by what they learned first through this book. The revised edition makes the book current, though 1960 edition is great introduction to the mass, heat and energy and/or momentum transfer problems.
The basis idea of the book is simple: list the equations useful for a system of problems, say in mass transfer; provide set of assumptions used to arrive at those; suggest possible solutions to the differential equations for practical industry conditions; use correlations derived by researchers where real time data is unavailable and lastly, learn how to adapt solutions for different set of conditions. The book attempts to make problem solving into a set of instructions to be followed, and by sticking to the fundamental assumptions and equations allows one to attack a range of problems relevant to fields as diverse as diffusion transport, biochemical processes, condensation problems for atmospheric physics, chemical kinetics, heat conduction, petroleum extraction and flow of fluids relevant to many processing industries.
We often hailed it as the Bible of Chemical Engineering. Every now and then, (nearly a decade after we first read it) I still hear people say: this problem, or something like it, was in BSL, (the acronym awarded to the book after its authors). Be it Transport texts by Deen or Middleman typically used for graduate school courses, or Incompressible Flow by Patton, the recourse to understanding problems first hand through BSL is always rewarding.
The book comes with a number of solved and unsolved problems. There is no short-cut to becoming a good chemical engineer, except by mastering the art and science of attacking problems. By going through the book meticulously right in your first course, (for in most cases, this is the first chemical engineering text encountered), you can ensure that you will do well in your whole education as chemical engineer.
Recommended reference for all chemical engineers.
The basis idea of the book is simple: list the equations useful for a system of problems, say in mass transfer; provide set of assumptions used to arrive at those; suggest possible solutions to the differential equations for practical industry conditions; use correlations derived by researchers where real time data is unavailable and lastly, learn how to adapt solutions for different set of conditions. The book attempts to make problem solving into a set of instructions to be followed, and by sticking to the fundamental assumptions and equations allows one to attack a range of problems relevant to fields as diverse as diffusion transport, biochemical processes, condensation problems for atmospheric physics, chemical kinetics, heat conduction, petroleum extraction and flow of fluids relevant to many processing industries.
We often hailed it as the Bible of Chemical Engineering. Every now and then, (nearly a decade after we first read it) I still hear people say: this problem, or something like it, was in BSL, (the acronym awarded to the book after its authors). Be it Transport texts by Deen or Middleman typically used for graduate school courses, or Incompressible Flow by Patton, the recourse to understanding problems first hand through BSL is always rewarding.
The book comes with a number of solved and unsolved problems. There is no short-cut to becoming a good chemical engineer, except by mastering the art and science of attacking problems. By going through the book meticulously right in your first course, (for in most cases, this is the first chemical engineering text encountered), you can ensure that you will do well in your whole education as chemical engineer.
Recommended reference for all chemical engineers.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Snow Crystals by WA Bentley
A classic example of meticulous effort;
a beautiful collection
Snow Crystals by Bentley represents the exhilarating beauty and complexity of snowflakes in photographs taken with painstaking effort and enterprise. The book has a very useful introduction, though most of it is devoted to the diverse patterns exhibited by snowflakes. The quest to understand why snowflakes have their delightful shape and symmetry has intrigued the scientists, poets and philosophers for centuries. For example, in sixteenth century, Kepler's essay (On six-cornered snowflake) presents a very illuminating (and perhaps first scientific) account of his thought process on the physics of why snowflake is formed. He discussed several key ideas relevant to packing problems, and on their shapes, and the book by Bentley surely dazzles in being able to present a diverse range of possibilities realized by nature. Highly recommended to science enthusiasts, artists, photographers and atmospheric physicists
a beautiful collection
Snow Crystals by Bentley represents the exhilarating beauty and complexity of snowflakes in photographs taken with painstaking effort and enterprise. The book has a very useful introduction, though most of it is devoted to the diverse patterns exhibited by snowflakes. The quest to understand why snowflakes have their delightful shape and symmetry has intrigued the scientists, poets and philosophers for centuries. For example, in sixteenth century, Kepler's essay (On six-cornered snowflake) presents a very illuminating (and perhaps first scientific) account of his thought process on the physics of why snowflake is formed. He discussed several key ideas relevant to packing problems, and on their shapes, and the book by Bentley surely dazzles in being able to present a diverse range of possibilities realized by nature. Highly recommended to science enthusiasts, artists, photographers and atmospheric physicists
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Soft and Fragile Matter non-equilibrium dynamics, metastability and flow, ed. by M. E. Cates and M. R. Evans
Soft and Fragile Matter is a great compilation of essays, put together by editors Cates and Evans, into a book that is useful for every serious student of soft matter physics. The bibliography at the end of each chapter outlines essential reading for the corresponding branch of soft matter, and the text on each chapter provides a basic and yet erudite discussion on some of the essential features of colloids, polymers, surfactants, granular matter and glasses. Surprisingly the book does not include a chapter on liquid crystals.
A summary of what these essays contain:
Poon opens the book with "A day in the life of a hard-sphere suspension" outlining concepts of statistical mechanics and "dynamics, metastability and flow" required to appreciate their behavior.
David Pine introduces static and dynamic light scattering as well as basic rheology in context of behavior of glass forming gels and worm like miscelles as examples.
Alexei Khokhlov's chapter on polymer physics starts by discussing models for describing chain dimensions, follows up with swelling and collapse of polymer chains in solvents, and then discusses statics of polyelectrolytes and block polymers. Khokhlov is author of Statistical Physics of Macromolecules and Gaint Molecules: both of which are highly recommended texts for polymer physicists.
McLeish starts by explaining what rheology is, and how fluids and solids respond to stress. Then he talks about the theoretical aspects of Rouse model and reptation, and discusses experimental rheology of both linear and branched polymers.
Daan Frenkel's chapter on introduction to colloidal systems is a thirty piece masterpiece that presents most of the important concepts of colloidal phenomenon. The chapter starts by discussing why particles are brownian, talks about forces between particles and then talks about computer simulations of colloids. Phase behavior, metastability and crystallization as well as hydrodynamics of colloids are introduced to the reader.
Kurt Kremer summarizes the simulation strategies relevant to soft matter, presenting a brief on Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics. His book on the topic is must have, must read for simulators in the field.
Roux delves into the intricate phases and patterns formed by surfactants , both under static and dynamic conditions. Bray continues the discussion by providing insight into the coarsening dynamics, giving us a glimpse of mechanism and kinetics of transformation of one phase into another (disorder to order, and spinodal decomposition). Mukamel then tackles the phase behavior in nonequilibrium systems, an area which will see a lot of theoretical and experimental investigation in future.Symmetry breaking and collective phenomenon are becoming most investigated fields of study, and the mathematics involved is basis for understanding pattern formation and behavior across disciplines as diverse as population ecology, astronomy and oscillatory chemical reactions.
Kob takes us into the metastable, amorphous realm of supercooled liquids and glasses. He discusses strong and fragile glasses, Mode Coupling Theory as well as relaxation in supercooled systems. Bouchaud takes this discussion further by talking about aging in glassy systems.
Lekkerkerker takes off from where Frenkel left and talks about colloids in another very insightful chapter, where both hard sphere crystallization and impact of mixing on phase behavior of colloids blended with each other or polymers is discussed. Paul Chaikin discusses hydrodynamics and thermodynamics of hard spheres presenting important concepts regarding sedimentation and packing problem in solid spheres. His book with Lubensky is an erudite and mathematically intensive treatise on soft condensed matter.
Lastly, Nagel and Cates discuss the physics of granular materials, one of the least understood realm of soft matter. While Nagel describes experiments with little perturbation aimed at looking at statics of these materials, Cates summarizes the understanding of jamming and stress transmission in granular media.
With such richness and complexity of topics, this book deserves to be on the bookshelf of every soft matter enthusiast.
A summary of what these essays contain:
Poon opens the book with "A day in the life of a hard-sphere suspension" outlining concepts of statistical mechanics and "dynamics, metastability and flow" required to appreciate their behavior.
David Pine introduces static and dynamic light scattering as well as basic rheology in context of behavior of glass forming gels and worm like miscelles as examples.
Alexei Khokhlov's chapter on polymer physics starts by discussing models for describing chain dimensions, follows up with swelling and collapse of polymer chains in solvents, and then discusses statics of polyelectrolytes and block polymers. Khokhlov is author of Statistical Physics of Macromolecules and Gaint Molecules: both of which are highly recommended texts for polymer physicists.
McLeish starts by explaining what rheology is, and how fluids and solids respond to stress. Then he talks about the theoretical aspects of Rouse model and reptation, and discusses experimental rheology of both linear and branched polymers.
Daan Frenkel's chapter on introduction to colloidal systems is a thirty piece masterpiece that presents most of the important concepts of colloidal phenomenon. The chapter starts by discussing why particles are brownian, talks about forces between particles and then talks about computer simulations of colloids. Phase behavior, metastability and crystallization as well as hydrodynamics of colloids are introduced to the reader.
Kurt Kremer summarizes the simulation strategies relevant to soft matter, presenting a brief on Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics. His book on the topic is must have, must read for simulators in the field.
Roux delves into the intricate phases and patterns formed by surfactants , both under static and dynamic conditions. Bray continues the discussion by providing insight into the coarsening dynamics, giving us a glimpse of mechanism and kinetics of transformation of one phase into another (disorder to order, and spinodal decomposition). Mukamel then tackles the phase behavior in nonequilibrium systems, an area which will see a lot of theoretical and experimental investigation in future.Symmetry breaking and collective phenomenon are becoming most investigated fields of study, and the mathematics involved is basis for understanding pattern formation and behavior across disciplines as diverse as population ecology, astronomy and oscillatory chemical reactions.
Kob takes us into the metastable, amorphous realm of supercooled liquids and glasses. He discusses strong and fragile glasses, Mode Coupling Theory as well as relaxation in supercooled systems. Bouchaud takes this discussion further by talking about aging in glassy systems.
Lekkerkerker takes off from where Frenkel left and talks about colloids in another very insightful chapter, where both hard sphere crystallization and impact of mixing on phase behavior of colloids blended with each other or polymers is discussed. Paul Chaikin discusses hydrodynamics and thermodynamics of hard spheres presenting important concepts regarding sedimentation and packing problem in solid spheres. His book with Lubensky is an erudite and mathematically intensive treatise on soft condensed matter.
Lastly, Nagel and Cates discuss the physics of granular materials, one of the least understood realm of soft matter. While Nagel describes experiments with little perturbation aimed at looking at statics of these materials, Cates summarizes the understanding of jamming and stress transmission in granular media.
With such richness and complexity of topics, this book deserves to be on the bookshelf of every soft matter enthusiast.
The Self-made Tapestry by Philip Ball
In the Self-made Tapestry, Philip Ball draws our attention to pattern formation in nature, outlines the beauty inherent in them, asks as why they form, and what other patterns are similar to them, and then provides a taste of how the physicists and mathematicians comprehend them and explain their form and function.
The science is present as both a quest for beauty and truth. The methods - experimentation and computation- are expounded, explained. Basic ideas, based on surface tension, viscosity, friction, forces, optics, chaos theory, and self-organized criticality are introduced and used in talking about as complex patterns as exist in turbulent streams or populations of predators and preys.
There are snapshots of history of a problem, tit-bits about the scientists who solved them and illustrations and examples of how one solution serves to solve different problems. Be it the assembly of bubbles or foam, sand-dunes or spiral patterns on sea-shells, Turing patterns in chemical medium or oscillatory patterns in Belousovy-Zhabotinsky reaction, the spiral waves in human heart or spots on leopard, the shape of rivers or mountains, colonies of bacteria or human cities, or convection patterns in oil heated in pan or corresponding ones in Earth mantle, the book explores a series of interesting, informative and educational patterns, throwing light on their existence and extent of our scientific understanding.
Philip Ball does a great job, given the diverse nature of physical concepts blended into this very delightful read, and the ease at which he allows the reader to appreciate experimental and theoretical research that have begun to emerge in the field of non-linear dynamics and chaos. The bibliography at the end lists a good many books and papers that are considered definitive reading in the field. A few characters are credited, though many more stars remain unexplored in this rich and intricate sky of non-linear physics. Given the intent and extent of the book, I will recommend it to everyone with interest in understanding why the world around us is full of shapes, patterns, forms, fractals and picturesque expression of color and figures.
The science is present as both a quest for beauty and truth. The methods - experimentation and computation- are expounded, explained. Basic ideas, based on surface tension, viscosity, friction, forces, optics, chaos theory, and self-organized criticality are introduced and used in talking about as complex patterns as exist in turbulent streams or populations of predators and preys.
There are snapshots of history of a problem, tit-bits about the scientists who solved them and illustrations and examples of how one solution serves to solve different problems. Be it the assembly of bubbles or foam, sand-dunes or spiral patterns on sea-shells, Turing patterns in chemical medium or oscillatory patterns in Belousovy-Zhabotinsky reaction, the spiral waves in human heart or spots on leopard, the shape of rivers or mountains, colonies of bacteria or human cities, or convection patterns in oil heated in pan or corresponding ones in Earth mantle, the book explores a series of interesting, informative and educational patterns, throwing light on their existence and extent of our scientific understanding.
Philip Ball does a great job, given the diverse nature of physical concepts blended into this very delightful read, and the ease at which he allows the reader to appreciate experimental and theoretical research that have begun to emerge in the field of non-linear dynamics and chaos. The bibliography at the end lists a good many books and papers that are considered definitive reading in the field. A few characters are credited, though many more stars remain unexplored in this rich and intricate sky of non-linear physics. Given the intent and extent of the book, I will recommend it to everyone with interest in understanding why the world around us is full of shapes, patterns, forms, fractals and picturesque expression of color and figures.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Soft Matter Physics by Mohamed Daoud
Excellent compilation of topics in Soft Matter!
Soft Matter Physics is an excellent compilation of chapters on different aspects of soft matter, written by the experts in their respective areas. In more ways than one, this text complements the texts of Chaikin & Lubensky as well as the one by Witten, and can be used wfor classroom teaching.
F. Brochard_Wyart's chapter on droplets describes some really elegant and simple experiments to introduce diverse concepts related to wetting and capillarity. A greater depth and detail about this area is found in a recently published treatize on Capillarity and Wetting Phenomenon, that she co-authored with David Quere and PG deGennes. The second chapter on fractals by Daoud and Van Damme presents introductory ideas of the mathematics of self-similarity, fractals, and random walks. Next follows an insightful foray into colloidal matter where J. C. Daniel and R. Andibert discuss the central role of interaction forces in describing the stability and aggregation behavior of colloids. The following two chapters focus on surfactants, where C Taupin and G. Porte examine the physiochemistry and the phase behavior of surfactant molecules.
F Candau then talks about the polymers formed by self-assembly and L Monnerie follows it up with description of the physical properties of covalently linked polymers. Thereafter comes a chapter by Tom Witten, which beautifully strings together the concepts of fractals, random walks, phase behavior into a discussion on the behavior of polymers in solution. This chapter is written in his trademark elegance, so apparent in his own treatize on soft matter, titled Structured Fluids. The last chapter on Liquid Crystals by J. Prost and C. E. Williams dwells on the characteristic properties of the nematic, smectic and columnar phases. With PG de Gennes, J. Prost is co-author on detailed text on liquid crystals.
It is only befitting that the forward to this text is written by PG de Gennes himself, for besides his fundamental contributions to the field, he has shaped and influenced the research of all the contributors and of readers worldwide. I recommend this book to one and all, and I am sure that even if your research area is constrained to topics described in any one chapter, you will find the reading of the rest text as purposeful and illuminating.
Soft Matter Physics is an excellent compilation of chapters on different aspects of soft matter, written by the experts in their respective areas. In more ways than one, this text complements the texts of Chaikin & Lubensky as well as the one by Witten, and can be used wfor classroom teaching.
F. Brochard_Wyart's chapter on droplets describes some really elegant and simple experiments to introduce diverse concepts related to wetting and capillarity. A greater depth and detail about this area is found in a recently published treatize on Capillarity and Wetting Phenomenon, that she co-authored with David Quere and PG deGennes. The second chapter on fractals by Daoud and Van Damme presents introductory ideas of the mathematics of self-similarity, fractals, and random walks. Next follows an insightful foray into colloidal matter where J. C. Daniel and R. Andibert discuss the central role of interaction forces in describing the stability and aggregation behavior of colloids. The following two chapters focus on surfactants, where C Taupin and G. Porte examine the physiochemistry and the phase behavior of surfactant molecules.
F Candau then talks about the polymers formed by self-assembly and L Monnerie follows it up with description of the physical properties of covalently linked polymers. Thereafter comes a chapter by Tom Witten, which beautifully strings together the concepts of fractals, random walks, phase behavior into a discussion on the behavior of polymers in solution. This chapter is written in his trademark elegance, so apparent in his own treatize on soft matter, titled Structured Fluids. The last chapter on Liquid Crystals by J. Prost and C. E. Williams dwells on the characteristic properties of the nematic, smectic and columnar phases. With PG de Gennes, J. Prost is co-author on detailed text on liquid crystals.
It is only befitting that the forward to this text is written by PG de Gennes himself, for besides his fundamental contributions to the field, he has shaped and influenced the research of all the contributors and of readers worldwide. I recommend this book to one and all, and I am sure that even if your research area is constrained to topics described in any one chapter, you will find the reading of the rest text as purposeful and illuminating.
Structured Fluids: Polymers, Colloids, Surfactants by Thomas A. Witten
Lucid, intuitive text for Soft Matter enthusiasts!
Structured Fluids relies more on presenting the physical picture than mathematical machinery, stresses more on intuition and scaling concepts than on derivations and obstrusive pages of equations. In doing so, it makes itself easier to grasp than say the texts by Chaikin and Lubensky or for that matter by Kleman and Lavrentovich. The formalism is done with enough depth, to benefit both beginners and experts of the field, and thus the book is better suited for graduate student course than say RAL Jones or Hamley's texts.
The essential knowledge related to polymers, colloids and surfactants is in here, and the book is fairly upto date with recent advances in these areas. The references listed at the end of each chapter are most useful pointers for anyone who seeks to delve deeper into the mysteries of soft matter. In fact, reading this text reminds one of the style of de Gennes, and having been written in the same spirit by these very illustrous scientists, the book is comprehensive and erudite in content and presentation.
The book starts off by talking about fundamentals, including elements of statistical physics and experimental probes used to investigate the soft matter. This sets stage for discussion of various themes related to say
polymers, where random walk statistics capture essential physics required to describe a coil, scaling concepts and basic thermodynamics tells about coil dimensions in different solvents and extension of brownian dynamics explains mobility of chains. The corresponding experimental tools of light scattering and viscosity highlight how these can be measured.
colloids, where the nature of interaction between colloidal particles determines their static and dynamic behavior, leading to experimentally observed self-assembly and aggregation.
interfaces, where basics of surface tension come in to explain behavior of colloids and polymers near walls and interfaces.
surfactants, which borrows principles from previous chapters, exhibiting rich phase behavior dictated by statistical thermodynamics, dynamics related to solvent quality and aggregation dependent on aggregation.
A must read for everyone interested, active (and maybe even for experts) in the field!
Structured Fluids relies more on presenting the physical picture than mathematical machinery, stresses more on intuition and scaling concepts than on derivations and obstrusive pages of equations. In doing so, it makes itself easier to grasp than say the texts by Chaikin and Lubensky or for that matter by Kleman and Lavrentovich. The formalism is done with enough depth, to benefit both beginners and experts of the field, and thus the book is better suited for graduate student course than say RAL Jones or Hamley's texts.
The essential knowledge related to polymers, colloids and surfactants is in here, and the book is fairly upto date with recent advances in these areas. The references listed at the end of each chapter are most useful pointers for anyone who seeks to delve deeper into the mysteries of soft matter. In fact, reading this text reminds one of the style of de Gennes, and having been written in the same spirit by these very illustrous scientists, the book is comprehensive and erudite in content and presentation.
The book starts off by talking about fundamentals, including elements of statistical physics and experimental probes used to investigate the soft matter. This sets stage for discussion of various themes related to say
polymers, where random walk statistics capture essential physics required to describe a coil, scaling concepts and basic thermodynamics tells about coil dimensions in different solvents and extension of brownian dynamics explains mobility of chains. The corresponding experimental tools of light scattering and viscosity highlight how these can be measured.
colloids, where the nature of interaction between colloidal particles determines their static and dynamic behavior, leading to experimentally observed self-assembly and aggregation.
interfaces, where basics of surface tension come in to explain behavior of colloids and polymers near walls and interfaces.
surfactants, which borrows principles from previous chapters, exhibiting rich phase behavior dictated by statistical thermodynamics, dynamics related to solvent quality and aggregation dependent on aggregation.
A must read for everyone interested, active (and maybe even for experts) in the field!
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Review of some Polymer Physics Texts!
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Prelude to Doi-Edward's Theory of Polymer Dynamics
The finest aspect of the book is its thickness; in just over 100 pages Doi essentially summarises everything in Polymer Dynamics. In some sense the book is meant as a bridge between the graduate level courses on Polymer Dynamics/Physics and book: The Theory of Polymer Dynamics and hence is assessible only with some background on basics. Nevertheless its serves its purpose pretty well.
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Excellent book: but to grasp everything one will need to read through a few simpler texts first, say Scaling Concepts by de Gennes, Introduction to Polymer Physics by Doi, some Rheology book say Viscoelastic properties of Polymers by Ferry and Polymer Solutions by I Teraoka.
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This is a comprehensive polymer physics book, each chapter is well written with adequate depth of coverage. Most definitely the book one must pick to delve into dynamics, thermodynamics, scattering and crystallization, and get to the level of appreciating the complexity and beauty of current research and understanding in the field of polymer physics. Highly recommended!
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de Gennes is one of the most eminent polymer physicists of our times, and this book is perhaps the most significant book in polymer physics. All books by this author are treasures of knowledge, concepts introduced in simple, yet elegant way. A must read for anyone who wishes to appreciate the structure and dynamics of polymeric materials!
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A comprehensive guide to Polymers by the Nobel winning Flory himself!!! The book came out over half a century back, and hence understandably contains a lot of material that has been revised and is now understood differently. Still the book continues to be an essential read for anyone interested in polymer science, and knowledge of how Flory developed and demonstrated several key ideas used in everyday polymer science. Not recommended as a textbook for beginners, but as reference book for anyone planning to delve deeper into the subject!
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Extensive and comprehensive approach to polymeric materials!
The book comprises of excellent chapters on crystallization, phase separation, viscoelasticity, optical properties, failure and yielding, liquid crystalline polymers, polymer surfaces, etc written by experts like Doi, Hashimoto, Lotz, Suter, Williams, Eby, Tirell, etc. Thus this book provides comprehensive material to understand above topics, and can be used as an excellent reference text to dig relevant literature cited and reviewed here. I believe that each chapter in this book gives material and insight comparable to a full graduate level course, and hence recommend the book for readers at all levels of understanding!!
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Viscoelastic properties of polymers includes a very detailed description of polymer rheology, covering both the mechanical aspects of rheometers, as well as the description of molecular basis of viscoelasticity. The book is highly recommended to everyone embarking on a career in polymer viscoelasticity. Ferry has essentially compiled all the important material relevant to polymer viscoelasticity, and hence the chapters serve as excellent reviews of respective fields. Since the last edition is well over 20 years old, many recent aspects of viscoelaticity are not present in the book (quite understandable:))! Nevertheless, this book is a must have to delve into viscoelaticity, the knowledge and its evolution.
More to be added later!
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Rev 6: Dynamic Light Scattering by Bruce J. Berne, Robert Pecora
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Dynamic Light Scattering is a classic text, that presents a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the underlying physics and principles of DLS. The description is developed with the associated mathematics of fluctuations and time correlation functions, as well as various physical aspects of Brownian Motion. Examples drawn from physics, chemistry and biology are used to illustrate the usefullness of DLS in studying a diverse range of problems including cell motility, macromolecular dynamics, dynamics of anisotropics objects (rod-like particles, viruses), electrolytic solutions, etc. The book is ESSENTIAL for everyone with interest in 1) dynamics of complex fluids 2) Brownian Motion of particles and 3) Single Molecule Imaging!
The text is a beautifully written treatise on various applications of DLS, with a very insightful commentary on how various dynamics is detected by light, how underlying structure and relaxations translate to observable, how observables can be deduced by mathematical principles based on statistical mechanics (including non-equilibrium thermodynamics). This is a fairly advanced text, so I would advise someone to get a soft introduction to his/her topic of choice (polymers, gels, rods, colloids, cells, polyelectrolytes, etc.) and basic statistical mechanics before picking this text. Being a Dover publication, the book is priced cheaper than it ought to be:), and hence must make its way to the shelf of people who have any lasting interest in DLS. The book by Wyn Brown is a useful supplementary text (and includes more modern references, but comes at a high price). This book is an exercise in the mathematics of correlation functions, and associated hydrodynamics equations, and definitely requires concerted effort to become beneficial to the reader.
Posted earlier on amazon.
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