Book excerpt: This is the second volume in the series of Asphaltenes and Asphalts. Since the publication of the first volume in 1994, there has been a significant advancement in our knowledge. Knowledge of both asphaltenes and asphalts is needed by several disciplines, and often the progress is dictated by interdisciplinary sciences and technology. This includes material sciences, fuel sciences, chemical engineering, civil engineering, environmental engineering, polymer sciences, transportation engineering, petroleum engineering, chemistry, geological sciences, physics, geochemistry rheology, biological sciences, tribology, soil sciences, petroleum science. The development in this field is not based on our knowledge of chemistry or petroleum engineering alone, as many chemists and petroleum engineers believe. In this volume, therefore, significant contributions from different disciplines have been included.