This is a book on the dissipative dynamics of ordered fluids,
with a particular focus on liquid crystals. It covers a whole
range of different theories, mainly concerned with nematic liquid
crystals in both their chiral and nonchiral variants. The authors
begin by giving a detailed account of the molecular origins of
orientational order in fluids. They then go on to develop a general
framework in which continuum theories for ordered fluids can be phrased.
Within this unified setting, they cover both well-established classical theories and new ones with aspects...