Reminiscences from a life with liquid crystals

The author looks back over a scientific career of almost 50 years spent mainly in research on liquid crystals (LCs) and carried out largely in University service and latterly for about five years in Industry. In this review, the development of UK LC research is traced mainly through its rapid escalation starting in the early 1970s and stemming from the development of applications for LCs in electro-optical displays, itself set on course by the author's own discovery of the first materials enabling the production of commercially viable, long life twisted nematic displays. The author's other contributions in the field are discussed and widened into a general review of current trends and activities in the field, with some emphasis being placed on threats to fundamental research posed by diminished funding and the current pressures on researchers to engage heavily in short term, 'wealth creating' projects.