Soft materials: structure and dynamics
John Dutcher and Alejandro Marangoni
New York, US: Dekker/CRC Press 2004 | Pp424 | 99.00 (HB) | ISBN0824753585
Reviewed by Athene Donald

The literature in the field of soft matter/materials is still rather thin on the ground, so I was delighted to know there was a new addition, written by two well-known practitioners in the field. Furthermore, the blurb states that the book 'provides a comprehensive overview.' and 'is a unique and outstanding reference for the industrial scientist or materials engineer', which looks very promising. However, I am afraid I cannot agree.

The book is not a coherent description of the field, but consists of a set of chapters with little linking them. The breadth of the book is substantial, covering topics in synthetic polymers, complex fluids, biomaterials and food materials. But it is a scattergun approach, and my guess would be that the chapter topics have been solely chosen according to the whim of the authors, with the author list being almost entirely selected on the grounds of geographical proximity to Guelph (Canada) where the two editors are based.

Thus, whatever the undoubted merits of the individual chapters, this book is neither comprehensive, nor an outstanding reference. It contains chapters that will be of interest to particular researchers in specific fields, but who is the book aimed at? No individual researcher will want to read all the chapters, and even institution libraries may feel the choice of topics so eclectic as barely to warrant purchase. Each chapter would probably have sat more comfortably as a review article in a specialised journal.

The book is not even cheap at £99. Regrettably, I must conclude that this is a book which is unlikely to find much of a market, and I cannot recommend its purchase.