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This book, based on lectures given at the Polytechnic of Milan, gives a broad overview of the field of polymer dynamics. In these lectures the aim is to stress the fundamental concepts of the behaviour of polymers without drawing on the more advanced mathematical formalism which often obscures the natural elegance of the subject matter. Professor De Gennes is one of the most distinguished workers in the field of material science. Therefore this book will be welcomed by both the experienced researcher in the area and the interested layman. It will be of particular value to graduate students. ... Read more

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A must read book for any one working in the field of polymer
A must read book for any one who wants to do serious work in fields of Polymer dynamics. It contains idea about lots of problems in this field to be worked out. The book gives a insight of the subject rather than giving too much emphasis on mathematical details. ... Read more

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In this fascinating book, Nobel Prize winner Pierre-Gilles de Gennes wittily captures the lives of personalities from both the academic and the industrial world in delightful bite-size stories. Most of the characters in this collection are like those in Aesop's fables, but in modern-day research settings. The book provides a critical account of aberrations (fortunately rare) of the scientific community. Many lessons can be drawn from the stories. For the young researcher, this book is like a telescope: for seeing other human beings beyond his or her laboratory. For the administrator, this book is like a microscope: for seeing inside the human beings huge and complex structures. However, like Aesop's fables, you would not offer the book as a gift to anyone other than a close and wise friend.

Petit Point is not a book to be devoured in a single sitting. It is one to be savored and reflected upon — it shows what the world may be like and what we ourselves may become. It is like a mirror — to be visited from time to time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Outstanding
This is collection of very short vignettes, sketching with a somewhat acid pen the life and work of a few scientists, most of them physicists. It does not say whether these characters are real or make-believe, but a few of the portraits come quite close to well known people (so even though I live far, far away from the center of the universe, I think I can identify Benoit Mandelbrot, Brian Josephson and Bernd Matthias. And I am sure other readers can put names on many more chapters of these ``Enigma Variations'' of science.)

The text is wonderfully written, and the descriptions are surgically precise. There are a few heroes, a few scoundrels, and many great but flawed humans. The tale of their struggles and ploys is always told warmly and with respect. They reflect so well the fauna of laboratories and research centers that you can see in every page glimpses of men and women you have known, maybe even of yourself.

All in all, the text is so good and the characters so accurate, this book should be compulsory reading for all first-year graduate students in any branch of science. ... Read more

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This digital document, covering the life and work of Pierre-Gilles De Gennes, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 1318 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

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After he received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1991, students, schools and science clubs throughout the French-speaking world invited Pierre-Gilles de Gennes to lecture about his work in science, about the work of a scientist, and about the role of science in the modern world. This absorbing and beautifully written book emerged from those lectures and from the lively discussions, probing questions and spontaneous replies that followed.Over the past few decades we have learned a great deal about the behavior of such materials as liquid crystals, emulsions and colloids, polymers, and complex molecules. These materials, called "soft matter" ("matière fragile" in French), have neither the rigid structure and crystalline symmetry of a solid nor the uniformity and disorder of a fluid or a gas. They have unusual and fascinating properties: some change their viscosity at our beck and call; others form layers of two-dimensional liquids; some are polarized, their molecules all oriented in the same direction and turning in unison at our command; others make up the foams, bubbles, waxes, gums, and many other items we take for granted every day.De Gennes, one of the world's leading experts on these strange forms of matter, here addresses topics ranging from soft-matter physics---the formation of rubber, the nature and uses of gum arabic, the wetting and de-wetting of surfaces, and the mysterious properties of bubbles and foams---to the activities of science: the role of individual or team work, the relation of discovery to correction, and the interplay of conscience and knowledge. In the best tradition of science writing, this book teaches us about both our world and ourselves.

About the Authors:P.G. de Gennes was born in Paris, France. He studied physics at the École Normale, receiving his Ph.D. in 1957, at the Atomic Energy Center in Saclay, where he worked with A. Abragam and J. Friedel, and at the University of California, Berkeley, working with C. Kittel. His early research concerned neutron scattering and magnetism. After serving in the French Navy he returned to physics research, at the CNRS in Orsay, where he started the group on superconductors; in 1971 he became a Professor at the Collège de France. His research turned to soft matter in 1968, when he began to study liquid crystals; he has since also worked on problems of polymer physics, the dynamics of wetting, and the physical chemistry of adhesion. Among his many honors are: The Nobel Prize for Physics, the Wolf Prize (Israel), and the Holweck and Ampère prizes (British and French Physical Societies).J. Badoz was also born in Paris; he studied at the École Supérieure de Physique et Chimie in Paris, obtaining his PhD in 1957. He continued his researches first at the CNRS, and since 1963 at the École Supérieure de Physique et Chimie; since 1972 he has been the school's scientific director. His research has chiefly focused on the interactions of light and condensed matter, an particularly on polarization phenomena.

FROM THE REVIEWS:

PHYSICS TODAY"Reading the book can be compared to strolling through a magnificent garden of fragile objects. DeGennes gently guides the reader past the beautiful landscape of soft matter and tells us how it was uncovered. We see many colorful examples of fragile objects that help us understand the unusual properties of these mysterious forms of matter...I immensely enjoyed reading FRAGILE OBJECTS and intend to use many of its examples in my lectures. I highly recommend it to any reader who is interested in condensed matter physics and science at large." ... Read more

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Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, died in 1984. Dirac's college, St. John's of Cambridge, generously endowed annual lectures to be held at Cambridge University in his memory. This volume contains a much expanded version of the 1994 Dirac Lecture by Nobel Laureate Pierre Gilles de Gennes.The book presents an impressionistic tour of the physics of soft interfaces. Full of insight and interesting asides, it not only provides an accessible introduction to this topic, but also lays down many markers and signposts that will be of interest to researchers in physics or chemistry. Features discussions of wetting and dewetting, the dynamics of different types of interface and adhesion and polymer/polymer welding. ... Read more

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Contains a selection of important papers by the author which have had a long-lasting impact on our understanding of condensed matter (solid state physics, liquid crystals, polymers, interfaces, wetting & adhesion).DLC: Condensed matter. ... Read more

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This volume is a selection of invaluable papers by P-G de Gennes — 1991 Nobel Prize winner in Physics — which have had a long-lasting impact on our understanding of condensed matter. Important ideas on polymers, liquid crystals and interfaces are described. The author has added some afterthoughts to the main papers (explaining their successes or weaknesses), and some current views on each special problem. The text is simple and easy to read. ... Read more

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The future applications of nanotechnology in high-tech industries require deep understanding of the theoretical and computational aspects of all kinds of materials and devices at a nanometer scale. Handbook of Theoretical and Computational Nanotechnology is the first single reference source ever published in field that offers such an unified approach covering all of the major topics dealing with theory, modeling, design and simulations of nanostructured materials and nanodevices, quantum computing, computational chemistry, physics and biology, nanomechanics, nanomachines, nanoelectronics, nanoprocesses, nanomagnetism, nano-optics, nanomedicines, nanobiotechnology, etc. This 10-volume (ca. 8,000 pages) handbook provides the first ideal introduction and an up-to-date survey of the fascinating new developments and interdisciplinary activities in the whole field presented by scientists working in different subject areas of science, engineering and medicine. This handbook is the most profound publication on this topic- the first treatment of the computational nanotechnology. This outstanding handbook presented by 265 world's leading scientists, is the most significant academic title ever published in this research field. This handbook has been divided into 10 thematic volumes by documenting computational treatment of nanomaterials and nanodevices. 10-VOLUME SET ( ca. 8,000 pages) Volume 1: Basic Concepts, Nanomachines and Bionanodevices Volume 2: Atomistic Simulations - Algorithms and Methods Volume 3: Quantum and Molecular Computing, and Quantum Simulations Volume 4: Nanomechanics and Multiscale Modeling Volume 5: Transport Phenomena and Nanoscale Processes Volume 6: Bioinformatics, Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Volume 7: Magnetic Nanostructures and Nano-optics Volume 8: Functional Nanomaterials, Nanoparticles and Polymer Nanostructures Volume 9: Nanocomposites, Nano-Assemblies, and Nanosurfaces Volume 10: Nanodevice Modeling and Nanoelectronics ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (October 24, 1932 in Paris - May 18, 2007 in Orsay) was a French physicist and the Nobel Prize laureate in Physics in 1991. In 1971, he became professor at the Collège de France, and participated in STRASACOL (a joint action of Strasbourg, Saclay and Collège de France) on polymer physics. From 1980 on, he became interested in interfacial problems : the dynamics of wetting and adhesion. He was awarded the Lorentz Medal and Wolf Prize in 1989. In 1991, he received the Nobel Prize in physics. He was then director of the École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI), a post he held from 1976 until his retirement in 2002. ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Yau-Man Chan, Magnus B. Egerstedt, Tapan Raychaudhuri, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Cecilia R. Aragon, Aleš Debeljak, Veljko Rus, José Ramón Montero, Matthias Steinmetz, Marc Schenker, Jur P. Van Den Berg, Barton Zwiebach, Cyrus Patell. Excerpt:Ale Debeljak Ale Debeljak (born December 25, 1961), is a Slovenian cultural critic , poet , and essayist . Biography Debeljak was born in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana , then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . He graduated from comparative literature at the University of Ljubljana in 1985. He continued his studies in the United States , obtaining a PhD in sociology of culture at Syracuse University in 1989. He was later a Senior Fulbright fellow at the University of California, Berkeley . He also worked at the Institute for Advanced Studies Collegium Budapest, the Civitella Ranieri Center and the Bogliasco Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanitites. During the Slovenian Spring (1988 1992), Debeljak actively participated in the democratization process in Slovenia. He is currently a professor of cultural studies at the Faculty for Social Studies of the University of Ljubljana . He is married to the American columnist and translator Erica Johnson Debeljak. They have three children and live in Ljubljana. Work Debeljak began publishing poetry in his college years. He was spotted by the poet Veno Taufer who helped him in the literary scene. His first collection of poetry was very well received also by the poet Toma alamun , who declared Debeljak as the best poet of the young generation of Slovene authors. Debeljak's poetry is noted for its melancholy and a new reaffirmation of traditional values such as family and God . An opponent to the everything-goes schools of modern thought, such as Post-Modernism , Debeljak's w... ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Pierre Curie, Paul Langevin, Georges Charpak, Henri-Léon Lebesgue, Mathias Fink, Henri Cartan, Jacques Prost, Jean-Philippe Bouchaud, Claude Boccara, Étienne Guyon, Jérôme Bibette, Paul Schützenberger, Albin Haller, Jean Rossier, Jacques Lewiner, Élie Cartan, Hervé Arribart, Ludwik Leibler, Bernard Calvino, Henri Van Damme, René Lucas, Janine Cossy, Gérard Dreyfus, Charles Lauth, Victor Auger, Jean-François Joanny, Pierre Papon, Rémi Carminati, Jacques Duran, Charles Féry, Élie Raphaël, Jérôme Lesueur, Marc Fermigier, Charles Dufraisse, Pierre Bergé, Patrick Tabeling, Roberto Duarte Silva, Georges Goudet, Jacques Badoz, Jean Uebersfeld, Lucien Monnerie, Hippolyte Copaux. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (24 octobre 1932 à Paris - 18 mai 2007 à Orsay, France) est un physicien français. Il a reçu le prix Nobel de physique de 1991 pour ses travaux sur les cristaux liquides et les polymères. Ses contributions ont inspiré et généré de très nombreuses études relevant tant de la physique et de la physico-chimie fondamentales que des sciences appliquées. Il naît à Paris d'un père médecin et d'une mère infirmière, est orphelin de père à l'âge de 9 ans et passe son enfance à Barcelonnette dans les Alpes-de-Haute-Provence pour traitement pulmonaire. Sa mère assure son éducation et sa scolarité à la maison jusqu'à l'âge de onze ans. À treize ans, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes part pour Bristol pour apprendre l'anglais. C'est là qu'il s'initie à la science en rencontrant le physicien des particules Giuseppe Occhialini. À propos de cette rencontre, il raconte : Pierre-Gilles de Gennes a suivi une formation de haut niveau. Il entre au lycée Saint-Louis où il prépare le...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Yves Rocard, Evry Schatzman, Raimond Castaing, Louis Néel, Dennis Gabor, Alain Aspect, Alfred Kastler, Catherine Bréchignac, Pierre Léna, Fernand Holweck, Maurice Goldman, David Ruelle, Pierre Jacquinot, Jean Brossel, Brian David Josephson, Jacques Friedel, Anatole Abragam, Philippe Monod, Ionel Solomon, Charles Sadron. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (24 octobre 1932 à Paris - 18 mai 2007 à Orsay, France) est un physicien français. Il a reçu le prix Nobel de physique de 1991 pour ses travaux sur les cristaux liquides et les polymères. Ses contributions ont inspiré et généré de très nombreuses études relevant tant de la physique et de la physico-chimie fondamentales que des sciences appliquées. Il naît à Paris d'un père médecin et d'une mère infirmière, est orphelin de père à l'âge de 9 ans et passe son enfance à Barcelonnette dans les Alpes-de-Haute-Provence pour traitement pulmonaire. Sa mère assure son éducation et sa scolarité à la maison jusqu'à l'âge de onze ans. À treize ans, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes part pour Bristol pour apprendre l'anglais. C'est là qu'il s'initie à la science en rencontrant le physicien des particules Giuseppe Occhialini. À propos de cette rencontre, il raconte : Pierre-Gilles de Gennes a suivi une formation de haut niveau. Il entre au lycée Saint-Louis où il prépare les concours d'entrée aux grandes écoles. Il suit les cours d'une classe préparatoire où l'on enseigne, outre les mathématiques et la physique, la biologie. En 1951, il intègre l'École normale supérieure où il rencontre trois physiciens de renom : Yves Rocard, Alfred Kastler et Pierre Aigrain. En 1953, il participe à l'École d'été de physique théorique des H...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Vulgarisation, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Coupe de France de Robotique, Les Petits Débrouillards, M. Tompkins, Piero Angela, Agence Science-Presse, La Fabrique de L'histoire, Huriel, Powers of Ten, Howstuffworks, Calendrier Cosmique de Carl Sagan, Pyramide de La Complexité, Psychologie Populaire, Que Sais-Je ?, Cosmos, Cosinus, Fête de La Science, le Monde Changeant, Michel Lamy, Formations Au Métiers de La Médiation Scientifique, Futura-Sciences, Café Scientifique, Science Commons, Biennale de L'environnement, Sphinx, Animation Scientifique, Information Scientifique. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : La vulgarisation est une forme de diffusion pédagogique des connaissances qui cherche à mettre le savoir (et éventuellement ses limites et ses incertitudes) à portée de tous et chacun.C'est l'ensemble des actions permettant au public d'accéder à la culture, et en particulier aux cultures scientifiques, techniques, industrielles ou environnementales, c'est-à-dire aux savoirs, savoir-faire et savoir-être de ces disciplines. La vulgarisation est depuis toujours intimement liée à la démarche scientifique . C'est une nécessité pour l'avancée du savoir. Elle est nécessaire à la conservation de la production scientifique (alors vue comme bien commun). Le partage des résultats avec le plus grand nombre facilite la critique positive et améliorative, et est même facteur de sérendipité.La vulgarisation permet au citoyen d'ensuite pouvoir saisir d'un enjeu la communauté scientifique, ce qui se développe via certains partenariats entre recherche et citoyens. Mais cette dernière piste reste encore marginale, comparativement à l'espace occupé par la vulgarisation plus « classique » (magazines, émissions de télé, li...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Michel Rohmer, Jacques le Rider, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Alain Aspect, Serge Haroche, Maurice Godelier, Jean-Marie Lehn, Yannick Mellier, Prix Humboldt, Wolf Lepenies, Jean Rouxel, Pierre Corvol, Georges Didi-Huberman, Janine Chasseguet-Smirguel, Achim Müller, Gérard Férey, François Gros, Marc Julia, Alain Bensoussan, Hans Robert Jauss, Philippe Ciarlet, Bernard Meunier, Olivier Jouanjan, Bernard Julia, Horst Möller, Heiner Zieschang, Guy Ourisson, Christian Bordé, Géraud Sénizergues. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (24 octobre 1932 à Paris - 18 mai 2007 à Orsay, France) est un physicien français. Il a reçu le prix Nobel de physique de 1991 pour ses travaux sur les cristaux liquides et les polymères. Ses contributions ont inspiré et généré de très nombreuses études relevant tant de la physique et de la physico-chimie fondamentales que des sciences appliquées. Il naît à Paris d'un père médecin et d'une mère infirmière, est orphelin de père à l'âge de 9 ans et passe son enfance à Barcelonnette dans les Alpes-de-Haute-Provence pour traitement pulmonaire. Sa mère assure son éducation et sa scolarité à la maison jusqu'à l'âge de onze ans. À treize ans, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes part pour Bristol pour apprendre l'anglais. C'est là qu'il s'initie à la science en rencontrant le physicien des particules Giuseppe Occhialini. À propos de cette rencontre, il raconte : Pierre-Gilles de Gennes a suivi une formation de haut niveau. Il entre au lycée Saint-Louis où il prépare les concours d'entrée aux grandes écoles. Il suit les cours d'une classe préparatoire où l'on enseigne, outre les mathématiques et la physique, la biologie. En 1951, il intègre l'École normale...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Chapters: Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Paul Langevin, Georges Charpak, Jacques Lewiner, Paul Schützenberger, Ludwik Leibler, Mathias Fink, Jacques Prost, Albin Haller, Bernard Cabane. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 31. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (October 24, 1932 in Paris May 18, 2007 in Orsay) was a French physicist and the Nobel Prize laureate in Physics in 1991. He was born in Paris, France and was home-schooled to the age of 12. Later, de Gennes studied at the École Normale Supérieure. After leaving the École in 1955, he became a research engineer at the Saclay center of the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique, working mainly on neutron scattering and magnetism, with advice from A. Abragam and J. Friedel. He defended his Ph.D. in 1957. In 1959, he was a postdoctoral visitor with C. Kittel at the University of California, Berkeley, and then spent 27 months in the French Navy. In 1961, he was assistant professor in Orsay and soon started the Orsay group on superconductors. In 1968, he switched to studying liquid crystals. In 1971, he became professor at the Collège de France, and participated in STRASACOL (a joint action of Strasbourg, Saclay and Collège de France) on polymer physics. From 1980 on, he became interested in interfacial problems : the dynamics of wetting and adhesion. He was awarded the Lorentz Medal and Wolf Prize in 1989. In 1991, he received the Nobel Prize in physics. He was then director of the École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI), a post he held from 1976 until his retirement in 2002. P.G. de Gennes has also received the Holweck Prize from the joint French and British Physical Society; the Ampere Prize, French Academy of Science; the gold medal from the French CNRS; the Matteuci Medal, I...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=575754 ... Read more

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This new edition of the classic text incorporates the many advances in knowledge about liquid crystals that have taken place since its initial publication in 1974. This new version's topicality and breadth of coverage will ensure that it remains an indispensable guide for researchers and graduate students in mechanics and engineering, and in chemical, solid state, and statistical physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Bible for liquid crystals!
Like every book by de Gennes, this book is a classic! This latest edition in a "must have" text for everyone even remotely associated with liquid crystals. The text is written in a self contained fashion, but the mathematics and physics is of advanced level, and to fully appreciate the content one must have some grip on statistical mechanics, tensor and vector algebra, electromagnetism and continuum physics. Thus it is ideal for physicists, a rewarding challenge for chemists and starting researchers.

To get a simple understanding of liquid crystals (without chemical and mathematical equations), a text by Peter J. Collins (Liquid Crystals: Nature's delicate phase of matter) is highly recommended. For people interested in synthesis of liquid crystals, this text has almost nothing to offer and maybe another text by Collins is more useful. Another important text on the physics of liquid crystals is by Chandershekar. But bottomline is while you may want to look at other texts for specific needs (synthesis or display devices), The Physics of Liquid Crystals by de Gennes is the book one must have and one must read to make a living in this area. (of course, I will read the whole text too....) ... Read more

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The study of capillarity is in the midst of a veritable explosion. What is offered here is not a comprehensive review of the latest research but rather a compendium of principles designed for the undergraduate student and for readers interested in the physics underlying these phenomena.

Customer Reviews (3)

Awfull Translation
I had the original in French, and got the English version trying to understand it faster. I was very dissapointed when I found phrases as:

"The puddle is the seat of a certain internal pressure p_2>0"

A puddle being a seat? I just don't catch the metaphore. The original in french says,

"Il existe une certaine pression interne p_2>0"

Which is, as you can googletranslate, "There is some internal pressure p_2> 0".

Very useful and easy to read!
This is a great book for anyone interested in capillarity and wetting phenomena. What I like about it is that it gives the reader a grasp of how things work and it goes through a lot of practical examples. The equations are voluntarily simplified (constants often omitted) to only leave the important variables and reveal the "mechanics of how things work". However, although the equations look simple, they do capture the essence of the problem and they are always perfectly sound. This is an approach that de Gennes uses a lot and which I believe makes things easier to understand. Moreover, the 3 authors of the book are, like the previous reviewer said, very well known and respected scientist in their field, which adds to the scientific soundness of their approach. In summary, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the physics of wetting.

Intuitive, elegant, insightful, beautiful!
Capillarity and Wetting Phenomena, like every text and paper bearing the name of de Gennes is intuitive, insightful, elegant, beautiful and extremely useful text. The names de Gennes, Brochard and David Quere are well known to the researchers in this area, and this book basically brings together their deep insight about a host of different phenomena in very simple words and equations. The described physics of wetting, surface tension, droplet spreading, instabilities, bubbles, etc. is developed in a style where qualitative arguments, dimensional arguments and experimental observations are used to describe a variety of complex phenomena. The apparent lack of mathematical rigor is a blessing to everyone interested in developing a taste and temperament for this extremely important field. While one can find several related texts in the field, none other is written in this delightfully insightful way. This is one of the rare gems that everyone from a high school student to most advanced researcher in the field can read, enjoy, learn from and be delighted to possess. ... Read more

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Drawn from the author's introductory course at the University of Orsay, Superconductivity of Metals and Alloys is intended to explain the basic knowledge of superconductivity for both experimentalists and theoreticians. These notes begin with an elementary discussion of magnetic properties of Type I and Type II superconductors. The microscopic theory is then built up in the Bogolubov language of self-consistent fields. This text provides the classic, fundamental basis for any work in the field of superconductivity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Too advanced for the average Joe
When I saw this book, I thought I had found a book that would explain Superconductivity in a manor that I could experiment with in my spare time. Obviously this book is written for those who have a good background in Theory and college level math; not the weekend garage inventor. With so many formulas to swim through I was lost in references that I had never heard of, not to mention could even put to use with my limited knowledge of the subject. For those out there wanting something simpler, look for a book with more illustrated pictures of the formulas in action and not entire pages of numbers, sub-typed Greek letters and squiggly line graphs.

Everlasting standard for textbook in physics
It is not possibly the best superconductivity book I have ever read, it is certainly an everlasting standard for a texbook in physics. The generations of superconductivity researchers, including myself, have grown up as scientists upon reading this book. Even now, in the era of high temperature superconductivity, someone new in the field should read this book first.

review of De Gennes, Superconductivity of metals and alloys
Possibly the best superconductivity book I have ever read. He covers GL equations excellently - he builds them up from Landau theory of phase transitions, by constructing them using the Helmholtz free energy. As far as the microscopic theory goes, BCS is brought from the very beginnings, in a methodical, logical mannar. The book is, however, a little mathematical for most people's tastes. A fair knowledge of quantum mechanics is needed before this book should be read (for example: Dirac notation, matix algebra to mention a few).

I have never read your books before. but I heard.
I am interested in superconductivity and diffusion of superconductivity. I am studying superconductuvitiy and elektrodiffusion. ... Read more