Customer Reviews

Excluded Volume Effects in Polymer Solutions

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Polymer physics is a difficult topic and Flory's pioneering work set the standard for much of the current thinking. However, one of the more challenging tasks Flory faced was grappling with the issue of configurational distributions in the excluded volume limit. Few people understood the importance of excluded volume and Flory dealt with these challenges by taking many simplified routes. Unfortunately, Flory's work was so influential, that few people noticed a quiet revolution that began in Europe and has firmly been established in Germany. Several brilliant folks recognized the connection between problems in phase transitions and the behavior of spin systems near critical points and the behavior of polymers in solution. This led to a revolution that unforunately has never been coherently articulated. The concepts are difficult but they are important because it changes the way we think about polymers. They are quite unlike a collection of small molecules in a box. Thanks to Schaefer, we now have the ability to properly educate ourselves in polymer physics. This is one of the best books I have read in this field. It is full of rich and deep insights and has impacted our thinking of protein folding in more ways than I can count. I wish this book were cheaper and better advertised. Every student of polymer physics should have a copy on his / her desk and read it daily.