Book excerpt: This practical handbook features an overview of the importance of physical properties and thermodynamics; and the use of thermo-dynamics to predict the extent of reaction in proposed new chem-ical combinations. The use of special types of data and pre-diction methods to develop flowsheets for probing projects; and sources of critically evaluated data, dividing the published works into three categories depending on quality are given. Methods of doing one's own critical evaluation of literature, a list of known North American contract experimentalists with the types of data mea-sured by each, methods for measuring equilibrium data, and ther-modynamic concepts to carry out process opti-mization are also featured.