It is the belief of the editors of this book that the recognition of block copolymers as being amphiphilic molecules and sharing common features with other well-studied amphiphiles will prove beneficial to both the surfactant and the polymer communities. An aim of this book is to bridge the two communities and cross-fertilise the different fields. To this end, leading researchers in the field of amphiphilic block copolymer self-assembly, some having a background in surfactant chemistry, and others with polymer physics roots, have agreed to join forces and contribute to this book.
The book consists of four entities. The first part discusses theoretical considerations behind the block copolymer self-assembly in solution and in the melt. The second part provides case studies of self-assembly in different classes of block copolymers (e.g., polyethers, polyelectrolytes) and in different environments (e.g., in water, in non-aqueous solvents, or in the absence of solvents). The third part presents experimental tools, ranging from static (e.g., small angle neutron scattering) to dynamic (e.g., rheology), which can prove valuable in the characterization of block copolymer self-assemblies. The fourth part offers a sampling of current applications of block copolymers in, e.g., formulations, pharmaceutics, and separations, applications which are based on the unique self-assembly properties of block copolymers.

This and its companion Volumes 2 and 3 document the proceed- ings of the 4th International Symposium on Surfactants in Solution held in Lund, Sweden, June 27-July 2, 1982. This biennial event was christened as the 4th Symposium as this was a continuation of ear- li er conferences dealing with surfactants held in 1976 (Albany) under the title "Micellization, Solubilization, and Microemulsions"; in 1978 (Knoxville) under the title "Solution Chemistry of Surfac- tants"; and in 1980 (Potsdam) where it was dubbed as "Solution Be- bavior of Surfactants: Theoretical and Applied Aspects:' The Pl02 3 ceedings of all these symposia have been properly chronicled. ' , The Lund Symposium was bi lIed as "Surfactants in Solution" as both the aggregation and adsorption aspects of surfactants were covered, and furthermore we were interested in a general title which could be used for future conferences in this series. As these biennial events bave become a weIl recognized forum for bringing together researchers with varied interests in the arena of surfactants, so it is amply vindicated to continue these, and the next meeting is planned for July 9-13, 1984 in Bordeaux, France under the cochair- manship of K. L. Mittal and P. Bothorel. The venue for 1986 is still open, although India, inter alia, is a good possibility. Apropos, we would be delighted to entertain suggestions regarding where and when these biennial symposia should be held in the future and you may direct your response to Kk~.

The renewed and increasing interest in lipid self-assembly, phase behaviour and interfacial properties can be related to both a much improved insight in biological systems and the applications of lipids in food and pharmaceutical industry; in the latter, the development of drug delivery systems based on lipids has become in focus. Amphiphilic systems comprise lipids, surfactants as well as different types of polymers, including block and graft copolymers. Research on biological amphiphiles has often been conducted separate from research on synthetic ones. However, in recent years a very fruitful convergence between the two fields has evolved. These new perspectives on fundamental research and applications of lipids are discussed in these proceedings from an international symposium on "Lipid and Polymer Lipid-systems," October 2000 in Chia Laguna in Italy - a joint undertaking of Prof. Maura Monduzzi at Cagliari University, Italy and Camurus Lipid Research Foundation, Lund, Sweden.

Leading Nordic-Baltic scientists and their colleagues from other countries present recent research on a broad range of topics in surface and colloid science: adhesion, adsorption processes, characterization of solid/liquid and solid/polymer interfaces, chemical and particle depositions, colloid stability, emulsification and encapsulation, interfacial reactions, new surfactants, polymer-surfactant interactions, self-assembly processes, and functionalized surfaces for bio- and chemosensors. The papers were presented at the 1st Nordic-Baltic Meeting on Surface and Colloid Science, which was held in Vilnius, Lithuania on August 21-25, 1999, as a continuation of the traditional Scandinavian Symposium on Surface Chemistry.

The increasing interest in NMR spectroscopy of what in some confer ences in this field is commonly termed "other nuclei" is unmistakable. Chemists and biologists who employ NMR spectroscopy to study their problems have, however, been somewhat reluctant to study nuclei with electric quadrupole moments. These nuclei frequently give rise to broad NMR signals, sometimes too broad to be detectable with ordinary high resolution NMR spectrometers. Spectrometers that could cope with broad NMR signals of low intensity, "wide-line" spectrometers, have been available since the mid 1950: s but it appears that most of these instruments ended up in physical laboratories where the research was primarily directed towards solid state problems. The study of quadrupolar nuclei can provide unique and very valuable information on a variety of physico-chemical and biological systems. For one thing the relaxation of quadrupolar nuclei is in many ways easier to interpret than the relaxation of non-quadrupolar nuclei, since the former is in many cases caused by purely intramolecular interactions modulated by the molecular motion. Studies of quadrupolar relaxation have therefore furnished important information about molec ular reorientation and association in liquids and have played - and will certainly play for many years - an important role in testing new theoretical models of molecular motion in liquids."