The discovery in 1980 of fast electrooptic switching in ferroelectric liquid crystals initially met with resistance, but led to the discovery of antiferroelectricity and intermediate ferrielectric phases in such crystals. Directed at graduate physics students and industrial scientists, the mostly stand-alone chapters cover: phase transitions in spontaneously broken symmetries and in restricted symmetry, symmetry breaking by external fields, phase transitions in optical properties, dieletric dispersion, NMR, STM and AFM in complex crystals, and electrooptic effects and their applications. Includes appended material on the Landau theory of second order phase transitions, a survey of experimental methods, and an experimentalist's nuts and bolts approach. The authors are with the J. Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, and the U. of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)