Abstract
Although publications concerning advances in synthesis and the role of molecular geometry in liquid crystallinity have not been numerous since the last conference in 1965, I have nevertheless had to be somewhat selective in the material which I have chosen to review in the available time. Broadly speaking, I have selected those areas of study which have given rise to new results which can be logically related to past experience in the field of molecular structure and the properties of liquid crystals. To this end, I have divided the lecture into three parts, of which the first is largely introductory.