Book excerpt: Compiling, comparing, and analyzing research from a wide range of abstracts, journal articles, and Web sites, this reference examines the properties, function, and behavior of binary, ternary, and multicomponent mixtures in the presence and absence of solutes. The author uniformly presents extensive data on the properties of solvent mixtures and describes their structures and interactions. He details the impact of preferential solvation on the environment, action, and components of chemical systems. The book highlights experimental approaches to determine when, and to what extent, preferential solvation has taken place and models for organic, ionic, macromolecular, and biochemical solutes.