Book excerpt: Surfactants are used throughout industry as components in a hugerange of formulated products or as effect chemicals in theproduction or processing of other materials. A detailedunderstanding of the basis of their activity is required by allthose who use surfactants, yet the new graduate or postgraduatechemist or chemical engineer will generally have little or noexperience of how and why surfactants work. Chemistry & Technology of Surfactants is aimed at newgraduate or postgraduate level chemists and chemical engineers atthe beginning their industrial careers and those in later life whobecome involved with surfactants for the first time. The book is astraightforward and practical survey of the chemistry ofsurfactants and their uses, providing a basic introduction tosurfactant theory, information on the various types of surfactantand some application details. This will allow readers to build ontotheir scientific education the concepts and principles on which thesuccessful use of surfactants, across a wide range of industries,is based.