Book excerpt: Catalysis in Micellar and Macromolecular Systems provides a comprehensive monograph on the catalyses elicited by aqueous and nonaqueous micelles, synthetic and naturally occurring polymers, and phase-transfer catalysts. It delineates the principles involved in designing appropriate catalytic systems throughout. Additionally, an attempt has been made to tabulate the available data exhaustively. The book discusses the preparation and purification of surfactants; the physical and chemical properties of surfactants and micelles; solubilization in aqueous micellar systems; and the principles of micellar catalysis. Separate chapters cover micellar catalysis of hydrolyses, solvolyses, aminolyses, and miscellaneous ionic reactions; micellar effects on organic equilibria and nucleophilic substitution reactions, and on hydrophobic interactions and protein structure; and radical and excited state reactions in micellar systems. The final chapters deal with interactions in and catalysis by micelles in nonaqueous solvents and in liquid crystalline phases; and catalysis in macromolecular and related systems. This book is aimed at the industrial and academic researcher regardless of his arbitrarily defined subfield, be it organic, inorganic, biological, colloid, etc. The treatment provides guidance and stimulus to bioorganic, inorganic, pharmaceutical, colloid, physical, and polymer chemists as well as to those who seek novel and unique catalysts in industrial processes. It can also serve as the basis of a graduate course.