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PREFACE
When a book reaches the third edition, it must be assumed that (1) the work has been useful to someone or (2) the publisher has lost its collective mind. As a simple matter of ego, I must assume that reason 1 is true in this case. For that reason, I have tried to maintain the same basic philosophy with regard to the style and content of the book, while endeavoring to incorporate new material where indicated. A good deal of the information presented is ‘‘old’’ in the sense that it represents work done many years ago by the virtual founders of the science of surface and colloid chemistry. In the mid-1950s a few names stood out as the ‘‘gurus’’ of the field—today the names are too numerous to mention, and the body of published literature is enormous. Surfactants and their applications continue to fill books and patents.
Important advances in the tools available for studying the activity of surfactants has significantly increased our understanding of what is happening at interfaces at the molecular level in both model and practical systems, although there is still a lot be learned. New knowledge obtained in the years since the publication of the second edition has added greatly to our understanding of the nature of the molecular interactions of surface-active materials and the consequences of their presence on system characteristics and performance. The basic concepts and principles, however, remain pretty much the same.
In this edition, some topics have been reduced or moved around and several new themes added. Two cases, those of phase transfer catalysis (PTC) and aerosols, are not directly related to surfactants, but their real or potential importance prompted me to include some introductory material related to them.
Without changing the fundamental philosophy and goals of the previous editions, this third edition was prepared with three major ideas in mind: (1) to maintain the basic content of the work, (2) to maintain the ‘‘readability’’ of the book for non-specialists, and (3) to improve the book’s utility as a source of basic concepts concerning surfactants and their applications. A limited number of problems are provided at the end of each chapter (except Chapter 1) to illustrate some of the concepts discussed. In some cases, the problems provided may not have a unique solution but are posed to stimulate imaginative solutions on the part of the reader. Some may also require some searching on the part of the problem solver to find missing pieces. While exact literature references are not provided, the Bibliography at the end of the book includes many of the better resources for more detailed information on each specific subject. It should serve as a useful guide to more detailed coverage for the interested reader.
I would like to thank my two ‘‘best friends,’’ Adriana and Katrina, for their constant love and support, and the crew at ALPHA C.I.S.A.—Lucho, Jose ́, Guillermo, Lisandro, Gabriel, Soledad, Alberto, Carlos, Enrique, Rudi, and all the rest—for putting up with my presence and my absence. Gracias por haber soportado mi pre- sencia y mi ausencia.
DREW MYERS
