Customer Reviews

Polymer Physics (Chemistry)

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Polymer Physics by Michael Rubinstein and Raplh Colby is a fascinating introduction to the realm of polymer statics, dynamics and phase behavior. It embodies the depth of Flory's classic text on Principals of Polymer Chemistry, classic delight of de Gennes' Scaling concepts in Polymers and the rigor of Theory of Polymer Dynamics by Doi and Edwards. The authors manage to do this with a textbook authority and clarity, which definitely makes this book a definite buy for anyone interested in polymer physics.

The book has four main sections. The first part talks about the polymer statics: ideal and real chains and how their size and size dependent properties are characterized. Then comes thermodynamics of polymer blends and solutions, which includes a discussion on polymer brushes and adsorption of chains. The authors devote the third section to networks and gels and this part includes a very thorough discussion of gelation, rubber elasticity and swelling. The last section is devoted to the polymer dyanmics, where chain models and polymer relaxation ideas are developed and discussed. The last two sections of the book cover topics which are of immense current interest, and have had original and critical contributions from the authors. Most highly recommended, both for beginners and for experts.

As a polymer physicist, among other things (mechanical engineer/tribologist) I can tell you that this is must for anybody trying to understand polymer physics. Whether you are a scientist or worked in applied sciences (engineering) this will make a great text book and reference.

I am a Chemist working on applied R&D in the oil refining industry. I bought this text as I needed a good understanding on polymer containing fluids (viscosity, solutions behavior). It is very well written and quite detailed. It is not the sort of text that tries to introduce excessive and not useful mathematical details but is anyway very accurate. I advice it also for professionals

The book is an excellent introduction to statistical polymer physics.
Its great strength is that it offers a mathematical treatment of polymer
physics with a minimum of mathematics i.e. only dimensional analysis and simple
ordinary differential equations. In addition, one needs to have an introductory
course in equilibrium statistical physics (statistical thermodynamics).

It is valuable to both academics and industrial practitioners, since it represents
a very complete picture of polymeric solutions, gels and networks
given with remarkable intuition. Certainly it does not go deep into
more advanced analytic (e.g. functional integral or numerical approaches),
but it is a necessary background to these fields. Recently, there has been
renewed interest for the development of relativistic Brownian dynamics.
This text is a must read for those working in the latter field and seek
a deep background in the classical theory.

The only negative aspect of this book has nothing to do with the authors,
but with OUP that produce such difficult to use book formats. I do not
understand why the book has to be so large in dimensions making any
handling difficult and awkward. I hope that soon is reissued in a more
compact and usable format that is made for the joy of reading.

From the equations of Flory-Huggins to the fractal nature of polymer confirmations, this book covers everything you need to know about the physical nature of polymers.

My title tells everything. This book is one of the best one if you are new to the field. You need to know Calculus, Thermodynamics and Statistical physics and then read through the pages. Not too detailed nor too brief. I suggest the book to seniors and grad level students.

Rubinstein and Colby have produced a real gem that will stand the test of time. I have multiple copies of this book and it is mandatory reading for all members of my lab. All of our copies are well-worn and it is a treasure trove of insights. I recommend solving the problems because there are hidden treasures that apply directly to understanding conformational heterogeneity of biomacromolecules. One often hears that the tenets of polymer physics do not apply to problems in protein biophysics. A deep understanding of the concepts, so lucidly explained by Rubinstein and Colby should catalyze a change in one's views about the place for polymer physics in the study of biomacromolecules. In my view, this book should be essential reading for every serious molecular biophysicist.

I think this book is really helpful to whom at entrance level of polymer and want to learn it deeper. It's easy to understand and the math there is not as difficult as other classic books. It doesn't care what background you have, follow the book can have a well touch/feeling of the physical meaning of polymer behaviour. If possible, strongly recommend to take the author's class it's also classic.

This book was required for my course on polymer physics and I've found it to be an essential resource. The class was my first introduction to the subject and the book has been very helpful in my understanding of the basic methods used to describe the behavior of polymers. The scaling arguments seem obvious once learned, but getting there can be a challenge without precise explanations. This book is a great way to learn about polymers, and could be used without a class to learn the material. Some basic understanding of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics (and of course physics...) is needed to fully grasp some of the arguments within this book.

Haven't used it a whole lot yet, but supposed to be one of the good books for intro polymer physics.