The study of "soft matter" materials with complex properties has raised a number of interesting problems in basic physics, biology, and materials science, all of which promise new and important technological applications. After a review of chemical bonds and phase transitions, the authors treat topics such as surface phenomena, stability of colloidal systems, structural properties of polymers, and topological defects. The monograph's emphasis on underlying physical principles offers a coherent treatment of the great variety of research in the field.

This collection of inspiration stories from America’s top educators is sure to inspire, celebrate, and motivate the people who make the biggest difference in everyone’s life. Everyone remembers that teacher who made a difference. The one who went the extra mile to truly affect lives, whose lessons carried as much importance outside the classroom as inside. This book is a celebration of those teachers who continue to make an impact. A collection of stories from some of the country's top educators, this book is a celebration of teachers' work, and motivation for them to continue. Joseph Underwood has collected stories from each of the twenty-eight 2004 Disney Teacher™ of the Year honorees. And every story celebrates a different obstacle they overcame, the power and know-how needed to triumph, and the reward granted upon beating the odds. Today I Made a Difference is the perfect gift for anyone in or considering the profession.

Pencils of Cubics and Algebraic Curves in the Real Projective Plane thoroughly examines the combinatorial configurations of n generic points in RP2. Especially how it is the data describing the mutual position of each point with respect to lines and conics passing through others. The first section in this book answers questions such as, can one count the combinatorial configurations up to the action of the symmetric group? How are they pairwise connected via almost generic configurations? These questions are addressed using rational cubics and pencils of cubics for n = 6 and 7. The book’s second section deals with configurations of eight points in the convex position. Both the combinatorial configurations and combinatorial pencils are classified up to the action of the dihedral group D8. Finally, the third section contains plentiful applications and results around Hilbert’s sixteenth problem. The author meticulously wrote this book based upon years of research devoted to the topic. The book is particularly useful for researchers and graduate students interested in topology, algebraic geometry and combinatorics. Features: Examines how the shape of pencils depends on the corresponding configurations of points Includes topology of real algebraic curves Contains numerous applications and results around Hilbert’s sixteenth problem About the Author: Séverine Fiedler-le Touzé has published several papers on this topic and has been invited to present at many conferences. She holds a Ph.D. from University Rennes1 and was a post-doc at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, California.

Walls is the story of how a young German woman, acting alone with the cooperation of a handful of other individuals in wartime Germany, brought sustenance and hope to thousands of political prisoners of the Third Reich. “When so many of us seem crippled by the numbness we see in our own society, Walls reminds us of the power of individual conscience.” — The Nation “I want my friends to read this book. I want to fix them with a glittering eye, à la Ancient Mariner, and force them to sit down and start reading. How else can they learn that a book about wartime Germany and concentration camp horror can be enthralling, inspiring and even possess charm.” — Pamela Marsh, Christian Science Monitor “The autobiography of Hiltgunt Zassenhaus pierced through the malaise and oppressive apathy of our society to affect me more profoundly than I recall a book ever having done before.” — Genesis II “The suspenseful and dramatic story of one courageous woman’s bold deception of the Gestapo.” — Book-of-the-Month Club News “This book releases its own inspiriting energies. In times that call for courage, ever more courage, Walls will remind any human heart of its own worst dangers and its best possibilities.” — National Catholic News Service “... set down in cool reflection but charged with inescapable emotion...” — The New Yorker