This text includes selected contributions which review the results achieved in the synthesis and characterization of organized polymeric materials. The focus is on competitive materials with liquid crystalline or electroconductive properties. The fine tuning of the properties offered by advanced chemical synthesis has been investigated by a large number of state-of-the-art techniques, including both microscopic (ESR, NMR, dielectrometry, fluorescence, IR, Raman spectroscopy) and macroscopic (calorimetric, mechanical) methodologies. The book also provides an updated coverage of the most...

The student of calculus is entitled to ask what calculus is and what it can be used for. This short book provides an answer. The author starts by demonstrating that calculus provides a mathematical tool for the quantitative analysis of a wide range of dynamical phenomena and systems with variable quantities. The text then looks at the origins and intuitive sources of calculus, its fundamental methodology, and its general framework and basic structure, before examining a few typical applications. The author's style is direct and pedagogical. The new student should find that the book provides a...