Liquid crystalline polymers lead one into the heartland of interdisciplinary science, where it is an art in itself to thrive without becoming a Jack of all trades and master of none. To explore new frontiers requires depth, but in this subject probably more than any other there is need for a breadth of background, and often a breadth not catered for within the traditional divisions of school and college science education. The subject lies where organic chemistry, physical chemistry, physics and materials science meet. A physicist will discover the need to appreciate something of the chemical diversity of the molecular world, and will begin to become familiar with the chemical language of the trade. A chemist, skilled in the synthesis of new liquid crystalline molecules, will become increasingly familiar with the need of materials people for samples in kilogram rather than milligram quantities, and with the demands of the physicist that the samples be ever purer and better characterised. Indeed, any scientist meeting the field for the first time will almost certainly be confronted with some unfamiliar areas which must be assimilated and understood in depth. This book is written as a handbook for anyone entering the liquid crystalline polymer arena, from whatever background. We hope it will serve the graduate student embarking on any project associated with these novel materials, the academic desiring a broader knowledge and the scientist whose research efforts become focused into the field. The authors also intend it as a reference text for any course at the undergraduate or masters degree level which includes liquid crystalline polymers within its syllabus.