This volume exposes the chemistry community to the critical role that chemistry can and must play in nonlinear optics research. In addition, it brings together those researchers who synthesize and characterize materials from a variety of systems, with those who build devices, giving chemists, physicists, and engineers a greater appreciation for the opportunities that lie ahead in understanding and developing nonlinear optical materials. The volume begins with a discussion of polarizability and hyperpolarizability from the view of a chemist. Tutorial chapters dealing with the fundamental structures and properties of second- and third-order nonlinear optical materials, measurement and characterization of these systems, theoretical considerations, application of these systems to devices, and overviews of the current state of affairs in both organic and inorganic nonlinear optical materials follow.