Best known outside the scientific community for the Nobel Prize in Physics he won in 1991, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes was exceptional amongst scientists for the breadth and depth of his contributions in multiple fields of physics. He was also much ahead of his time in his desire to break down barriers between scientific disciplines and between fundamental and applied science. He was equally unusual in his willingness to explain the nature and purpose of his work to society at large and to young people in particular. Laurence Pl vert's fascinating work retraces the influences and experiences that moulded this complex, charismatic, charming and eclectic genius. It follows him from his unconventional childhood on the fringes of the old French aristocracy and in war-divided France, through his glittering school and early scientific career, up to the revolutionary breakthroughs in fields as diverse as superconductivity, liquid crystals, polymers and soft matter, culminating in the final consecration of the Nobel prize. Constructed from exclusive interviews with the physicist himself, his family, friends and colleagues, this biography immerses us in the work and character of a truly remarkable figure, a Renaissance man of the 20th century.

The nanosciences and their companion nanotechnologies are a hot topic all around the world. For some, they promise developments ranging from nanobots to revolutionary new materials. For others, they raise the specter of Big Brother and of atomically modified organisms (AMOs). This book is a counterbalance to spin and paranoia alike, asking us to consider what the nanosciences really are.Nanosciences are not just a branch of materials sciences, a common misrepresentation fostered in the funding wars. Nor should nanotechnology be confused with miniaturization, a convergence of microelectronics, biotechnology and lab-on-chip techniques. These misconceptions arise from a well-orchestrated US policy dating from the mid-1990s, in which the instrument that lies at the heart of the true nanoscience revolution - the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) - plays just a minor part. These issues are covered here for the first time in a book by a scientist who holds two Feynman prizes in nanotechnology and who has played a significant role in the birth of the nanosciences. Writing from the cutting edge and with an understanding of the real nature of nanoscience, the author provides a scientific and historical perspective on the subject, a response to the misplaced ethical concerns of objectors and to the scaremongering of the popular press.