Over the past 25 years or so there has been a revolution in the devel- mentoffunctionalpolymers. Whilemanypolymersascommoditiesrepresent huge markets, new materials with a high degree of functionality have been developed. Such specialty polymers play important roles in our day-to-day lives. The current volumes 213 and 214 of Advances in Polymer Science focus on photoresponsive polymers. In particular polymers that can either change the properties of a beam of light that passes through them or who change their properties in response to light. Volume 213 starts with an introd- tion to...