The problem of molecules interacting with metal surfaces has for a very long time been recognized to be of considerable technological as well as fundamental importance. Thus in the former category, a substantial number of important synthetic reactions for industrial purposes make use of metal surfaces as catalysts. Or again, problems of corrosion of metals are of great practical importance, such as in nuclear-reactor technology see, for instance, my earlier articles, in: Physics Bulletin, Volume 25, p. 582, Institute of Physics, UK (1974); and in: Physics and Contemporqry Needs (Riazuddin,...

This book deals with three related areas having both fundamental and technological interest. In the first part, the objective is to provide a bird's eye view on structure in polymeric solids. This is then complemented by a chapter, directly technological in its emphasis, dealing with the influence of processing on polymeric materials. In spite of the technological interest, this leads to some of the current fundamental theory. Part II, concerned with liquid crystals, starts with a discussion of the physics of the various types of material, and concludes with a treatment of optical...