Ingo Dierking received his PhD at Clausthal University, Germany, in 1995 and then worked as a postdoc at the IBM TJ Watson Research Center, USA, before receiving a Humboldt fellowship for Chalmers University, Sweden. From 1999-2002 Dierking was a lecturer at Darmstadt University, Germany, before joining the University of Manchester where he is a Senior Lecturer. He has won several research awards, the GW Gray medal, the Cyril Hilsum medal and the Samsung Mid-career award and is currently the President of the International Liquid Crystal Society and a former Chair of the British Liquid Crystals Society. Antônio Martins Figueiredo Neto received his PhD at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, in 1981 and then worked as a postdoc at the Université Paris-Sud, France, from 1983 to 1985. In 1988 he became Full Professor of Physics at University of São Paulo. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Science and the State of São Paulo Academy of Science. He has published more than 200 papers in international journals and supervised more than 40 PhD and Master students.
A book of high quality, and very timely. The field has been enjoying a rapid growth within the last few decades, thanks to the development of polymer-, DNA-, cellulose- and chromonic-based liquid crystalline phases. * Oleg Lavrentovich, Kent State University, Ohio * An important contribution to the literature of complex fluids and liquid crystals in general, with the particularly important feature of organizing the solved and open problems as well as the challenges and perspectives of this fascinating research field. * Luiz Roberto Evangelista, State University of Maringa, Brazil *