Michel Mitov

Michel Mitov grew up in Sainte-Maxime (France). He graduated from the University of Nice–Sophia Antipolis, where he received his PhD in condensed matter physics. He is Director of Research at CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), at the Institute of Physics in Nice (INPHYNI). His current interests are the cholesteric liquid crystals, their use for the self-organization of nanoparticles and biomimetic applications. Michel Mitov is the inventor and co-inventor of patents related to smart reflective windows to control solar light and heat. He gets involved in science popularization activities (articles, books, radio broadcasts, documentary TV films).

He is the author of monographs on liquid crystals (‘Les Cristaux Liquides’, Presses Universitaires de France, 2000) and soft matter with ‘Matière sensible’ (Seuil, 2010), which won the Roberval Prize in 2011, and ‘Sensitive Matter—Foams, gels, liquid crystals and other miracles’ published by Harvard University Press in 2012.

Taken from reviews :

This book is related to joyful science (France Culture).

A must read! (Radio France Internationale).

Mitov has a light touch, writing like the hip, pop-culture-loving, corduroy-jacket-wearing chemistry teacher that you always wanted but never had (The Washington Post).

This book ably reflects a goal of the field—to extract beautiful intellectual challenges from ‘dirty’ industrial or everyday questions. ‘Sensitive Matter’ is an excellent guide to the labyrinthine world of soft matter (Nature).

Making use of anecdotes or historical facts, and not disdaining humor, the author has managed to make this book an instructive but especially captivating book. It is rare that a scientist manages to write such an informative book that reads like a novel! (Roberval Prize Committee).

This book is a delight. With grace, poise and precision, Michel Mitov makes the case that there is as much wonder and challenging science in the behavior of everyday substances—egg white, toothpaste, sand, soap foam—as there is in the most esoteric experiments in particle physics. Sensitive matter could wish for no more sensitive, no more responsive and intelligent, a champion. (Philip Ball, author of Made to Measure and Molecules: A Very Short Introduction).

The book is well-written, easy to understand and a lot of fun. It will appeal even to those who have just a fleeting interest in science (Current Science, India).