Book excerpt: This book presents recent research in chemical and biochemical physics. Chemical physics addresses a large range of problems. An effective chemical physicist is a "jack-of-all-trades", able to apply the principles and techniques of the field to everything from high-tech materials to biology. Just as the fields of chemistry and physics have expanded, so have chemical physics subject areas, which include polymers, materials, surfaces/interfaces, and biological macromolecules, along with the traditional small molecule and condensed phase systems. Biochemical physics is a science that joins the three natural sciences (biology, chemistry and physics) into one comprehensive study. N.M. Emanuel pioneered this science over fifty years ago. This book brings together papers written by Emanuel's students, which reveal recent developments in this interesting field.