The subject of acidity and basicity has enormous economic and technological value while it continues to present significant scientific challenges with prospects for further important technological developments. Historically, technological developments in acidity/basicity have often preceded the scientific understanding of the phenomena involved, certainly in the petroleum industry, a key beneficiarry and user of the concepts of acidity. This process, however, is very expensive and less efficient than developments based on a fundamental understanding of the scientific phenomena involved. This has been recognized over the years and it explains why university, government and industrial laboratories have in the last 50 years devoted large efforts to understanding acidity (and basicity to a lesser extent) so they can gain the technological advantage. The scientific and technological literature on the subject is truly enormous. There have been some very important articles and books on the subject that have attempted to critically review many individual contributions. During the last few years there have been three developments that led us to organize the Advanced Study Institute on which this volume is based: a) Significant developments in the theory of acids and bases; b) Developments in instrumentation that allow the detailed characterization of materials including in-situ conditions relevant to industrial processes; c) The realization that closer coupling of scientific and technological pursuits can lead to greater scientific understanding and better technology. The structure of the ASI reflected the coming-together of these three factors.

This volume contains the lectures presented at an Advanced Study Institute on "Magnetic Resonance Techniques in Fossil Energy Problems," which was held at the village of Maleme, Crete, in July of 1983. As of this writing, a different popular attitude prevails from that when the ASI was proposed as far as how critical the world energy picture is. In the popular press, a panglossian attitude (the "petroleum glut" of the 80's) has replaced the jeremiads of the 70's ( a catastrophic "energy crisis"). Yet, there are certain important constants: (a) for the foreseeable future, fossil energy sources (petroleum, coal, oil shale, etc. ) will continue to be of paramount importance; and (b) science and technology of the highest order are needed to extend the fossil ener y resource base and to utilize it in a cost-effective manner that is also environmentally acceptable. It is precisely this second item that this volume addresses. The volume introduces the phenomenology of magnetic resonance n a unified and detailed manner, starting from the behavior of spins in a magnetic field and proceeding to a density matrix consideration of the phenomena involved. The various important parameters of NMR and EPR are discussed in detail, as well as their significance and the information that may be obtained from their proper consideration. Advanced topics are then considered, including line-broadening interactions, coherent averaging and multiple quantum methods in NMR, ENDOR, electron spin echoes, dynamic nuclear polarization. problems of quantifi cation, 2-Dimensional N}1R, Mossbauer, and instrumentation."

Historically, technological developments that have made use of the acidity/basicity of solids have often preceded an understanding of the phenomena involved. This, of course, is very expensive, and a far less efficient process than research based on a fundamental understanding of the science. For the last 50 years, therefore, a vast amount of research has been devoted to the subject: the rewards, in terms of technological advantage, were seen to be high. In the last few years, however, significant advances in the field have been achieved, in terms of our theoretical understanding, in instrumentation that allows research to be conducted "in situ" and under conditions appropriate to industrial processes, and in the realization that a closer coupling between science and technology can improve our quest. It is against such a background that "Acidity and Basicity of Solids" presents work in the field. This text should be suitable for specialized workers in the field and university teachers of introductory as well as graduate courses. The more general reader may find the reviews interesting.