Book excerpt: Adopting a novel approach, this book provides a unique "molecular perspective" on plasmonics, concisely presenting the fundamentals and applications in a way suitable for beginners entering this hot field as well as for experienced researchers and practitioners. It begins by introducing readers to the optical effects that occur at the nanoscale and particularly their modification in the presence of biomolecules, followed by a concise yet thorough overview of the different methods for the actual fabrication of nanooptical materials. Further chapters address the relevant nanooptics, as well as the various approaches to combining nanostructures and biomolecules to achieve certain desired functionalities for applications in the fields of probing, sensing and particle manipulation. For analytical biologists, physical chemists, materials scientists and medicinal chemists.