Book excerpt: This volume contains a peer reviewed selection of the papers presented at the highly successful sixteenth meeting of the European Colloid and Interface Society which was held in Paris, France in September 2002 and highlights some of the important advances in this area. The topics covered include: Molecular self assemblies; Colloids and interfaces; Long range and/or weak interactions in interfacial systems; Original ways to probe colloidal systems; Colloids in biology. The volume is of interest to both academic and industrial scientists working with colloidal and interfacial systems in chemistry, physics and biology.