As the various disciplines of science advance, they proliferate and tend to become more esoteric. Barriers of specialized terminologies form, which cause scientists to lose contact with their colleagues, and differences in points-of-view emerge which hinder the unification of knowledge among the various disciplines, and even within a given discipline. As a result, the scientist, and especially the student, is in many instances offered fragmented glimpses of subjects that are funda mentally synthetic and that should be treated in their own right. Such seems to be the case of the liquid state. Unlike the other states of matter -- gases, solids, and plasmas -- the liquid state has not yet received unified treatment, probably because it has been the least explored and remains the least understood state of matter. Occasionally, events occur which help remove some of the barriers that separate scientists and disciplines alike. Such an event was the ASI on The Liquid State held this past July at the lovely Hotel Tivoli Sintra, in the picturesque town of Sintra, Portugal, approximately 30 km northwest of Lisbon. Since this broad a subject could not be covered in one Institute, the focus of the ASI was on a theme that provided a common thread of understanding for all in attendance -- the Electrical Proper ties of the Liquid State.

Under certain conditions, liquids that usually do not conduct electrical currents become conductors, a phenomenon that is of interest to scientists in several different fields. In Liquid State Electronics of Insulating Liquids, one of the world's leading experts in dielectric liquids discusses the theoretical basis and the experiments on electronic conduction in nonpolar liquids. It provides a sound description of the concepts involved in electronic and ionic charge transport in these liquids. This text also includes experimental techniques that graduate students, university researchers, and laboratory scientists will all find useful. Data tables provide first-order information on the magnitude of relevant quantities.

As the various disciplines of science advance, they proliferate and tend to become more esoteric. Barriers of specialized terminologies form, which cause scientists to lose contact with their colleagues, and differences in points-of-view emerge which hinder the unification of knowledge among the various disciplines, and even within a given discipline. As a result, the scientist, and especially the student, is in many instances offered fragmented glimpses of subjects that are funda mentally synthetic and that should be treated in their own right. Such seems to be the case of the liquid state. Unlike the other states of matter -- gases, solids, and plasmas -- the liquid state has not yet received unified treatment, probably because it has been the least explored and remains the least understood state of matter. Occasionally, events occur which help remove some of the barriers that separate scientists and disciplines alike. Such an event was the ASI on The Liquid State held this past July at the lovely Hotel Tivoli Sintra, in the picturesque town of Sintra, Portugal, approximately 30 km northwest of Lisbon. Since this broad a subject could not be covered in one Institute, the focus of the ASI was on a theme that provided a common thread of understanding for all in attendance -- the Electrical Proper ties of the Liquid State.

This important book provides an introduction to the liquid state. A qualitative description of liquid properties is first given, followed by detailed chapters on thermodynamics, liquid structure in relation to interaction forces and transport properties such as diffusion and viscosity. Treatment of complex fluids such as anisotropic liquid crystals and polymers, and of technically important topics such as non-Newtonian and turbulent flows, is included. Surface properties and characteristics of the liquid-vapour critical point are also discussed. While the book focuses on classical liquids, the final chapter deals with quantal fluids.

The Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on "Linking the Gaseous and Condensed Phases of Matter: The Behavior of Slow Electrons" was held at Patras, Greece, September 5-18, 1993. The organizers of the Patras ASI felt that the study of the electronic properties of matter in various states of aggregation has advanced to a point where further progress required the interfacing of the phases of matter in order to find out and to understand how the microscopic and macroscopic properties of materials and processes change as we go from low pressure gas to the condensed phase. This approach is of foremost significance both from the point of view of basic research and of applications. Linking the electronic properties of the gaseous and condensed phases of matter is a fascinating new frontier of science embracing scientists not only from physics and chemistry but also from the life sciences and engineering. The Patras ASI brought together some of the world's foremost experts who work in the field of electronic properties of molecular gases, clusters, liquids, and solids. The thirty five lectures given at the meeting as well as the twenty nine poster papers presented and the formal and informal discussions that took place focused largely on the behavior of slow electrons in matter.