The overall theme of Volume 2 is water in crystalline solids: the ice polymorplis, salt and organic hydrates. from simple molecules to proteins, and the nature of the equated proton in solid hydrates (and in the vapour phase). The advent of neutron diffraction, coupled with major instrumental and theoretical developments has led to insights into the structure, energetics and dynamics of hydrated solids.

The fourth volume of Water Science Reviews presents three fascinating accounts of hydration phenomena in collodial systems. O. Fennell Evans and David Miller provide a reappraisal of the role of water in promoting amphiphilic assembly and structure. Donald Eagland's review of water-soluble polymers highlights those which show unique solution properties or where there is contention as to the explanation for the behaviour. The final review, from Kenneth Newman, deals with the hydration of surfaces, a topic of profound scientific and technological importance.

Interest in water in all its forms and in all its properties will continue to grow for a long time to come. It will spread over a large number of disciplines and technologies. Research into water in all its aspects has become so diverse that even those with a direct interest find it impossible to keep up with the original literature beyond a very limited range. On the other hand, scientists want to keep in touch with a wide spectrum of basic and applied research on water and the role played by aqueous solvents in physical, chemical, biological, technological and environmental processes. Water Science Reviews contains three or four critical state-of-the-art reviews of the type previously published in the seven volume work Water - A Comprehensive Treatise. Some reviews will update previously published topics, while others will feature areas of Water Sciences that have never yet been reviewed. A common focus will be the central position adopted by water in the systems and processes described. A selective bibliography will direct interested readers to the original source literature.

Interest in water will continue to grow for a long time to come. It will continue to spread over a large number of disciplines and technologies. Research into water in all its aspects has become so diverse that even those with a direct interest find it impossible to keep up with the original literature beyond a very limited range. On the other hand, scientists want to keep in touch with a wide spectrum of basic and applied research on water and the role played by aqueous solvents in physical, chemical, biological, technological and environmental processes. Water Science Reviews contains three or four critical reviews of the type previously published in the seven volume work Water - A Comprehensive Treatise. Some reviews update previously published topics, while others feature areas of Water Sciences that have never yet been reviewed. A common focus is the central position adopted by water in the systems and processes described.

Interest in water will continue to grow for a long time to come. It will continue to spread over a large number of disciplines and technologies. Research into water in all its aspects has become so diverse that even those with a direct interest find it impossible to keep up with the original literature beyond a very limited range. On the other hand, scientists want to keep in touch with a wide spectrum of basic and applied research on water and the role played by aqueous solvents in physical, chemical, biological, technological and environmental processes. Water Science Reviews contains three or four critical reviews of the type previously published in the seven volume work Water - A Comprehensive Treatise. Some reviews update previously published topics while others feature areas of Water Sciences that have never yet been reviewed. A common focus is the central position adopted by water in the systems and processes described.