Hermann Janeschitz-Kriegl, professor emeritus from Johannes Kepler University Linz, was born in Graz, Austria, October 22, 1924. He studied chemistry at Graz University where he graduated with a doctoral thesis on cellulose in 1951. From 1952-1968 he worked at TNO Delft, the Netherlands, on several polymer science and engineering subjects. From 1968-1978 he was a full professor at Delft University. He became a Fellow of the Plastics Institute London, UK, in 1968. Since 1978 he has been professor of physical chemistry at Linz University. He is the author of the monograph "Polymer Melt Rheology and Flow Birefringence“, Springer 1983, and the first edition of the present book, Springer 2009. In 1994 he received the Honorary Doctorate from Leoben Unversity, and in 2003 the Honorary Membership of the German Society of Rheology.