The Clifford Paterson Lecture, 1985: Liquid Crystals: An Arena for Research and Industrial Collaboration Among Chemists, Physicists and Engineers

The subject of liquid crystals is a fascinating one. The involvements of the subject, representing, some would say, a 'fourth state of matter', range from the highly theoretical to the highly technical, and its investigators in both academic and industrial institutions belong to disciplines as distinct as chemistry, physics, electrical and electronic engineering, applied physics, and biology. The strong tempo of research in the subject today is of course a direct outcome of the technological applications of liquid crystals in electro-optical display devices and temperature-sensing devices. Successes in these areas have, however, arisen only through the closest of collaborations among research and industrial scientists from such different disciplines. After a suitable introduction, progress to date in the area of applications will be traced, with emphasis upon the critical role of interdisciplinary collaboration. Given its continuation in the face of growing competition, some technological prospects for the future will be examined.