This book presents a compilation of self-contained chapters covering a wide range of topics within the broad field of soft condensed matter. Each chapter starts with basic definitions to bring the reader up-to-date on the topic at hand, describing how to use fluid flows to generate soft materials of high value either for applications or for basic research. Coverage includes topics related to colloidal suspensions and soft materials and how they differ in behavior, along with a roadmap for researchers on how to use soft materials to study relevant physics questions related to geometrical frustration.

This book contains the papers presented at a meeting sponsored by the Colloid and Interface Science Group of the Faraday Division, Royal Society of Chemistry, which was held at Wills Hall, University of Bristol from the 14th - 16th April 1997. The pur pose of the meeting, which was entitled Colloidal Dispersions, was to discuss the subject of concentrated colloidal systems including, dispersions, emulsions and powders, in order to emphasize recent advances in experimental and theoretical understanding of these systems and how these advances could be applied to practical utitisation in the wide range of industries which are involved with colloidal systems. The papers presented at the meeting were given by the principal participants in a 5 year project on Colloid Technology, which started on the 1st August 1992, and was funded by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of the U.K. and a consortium of industries which was composed of ICI, Schlumberger, Unilever and Zeneca. The academic centres involved were, the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Imperial College, London. Each of the papers published in this volume formed the focus for a discussion on that topic so that each subject was discussed in so me depth by the participants. J ean Proctor and Meg Staff have been tremendously helpful as secretaries at Bristol and Cambridge respectively throughout the project. Also, their help with the various meetings and with the production of this volume was invaluable. We thank them most warmly for their very able assistance.

The mesoscopic domain encompasses structures that are best described in terms of the time and length scales which lie between the two extremes of the molecular and the phenomenological description of materials. Important examples of such structures are self-assemblies, emulsions, gels, colloids aggregates and macromolecules networks. Discussing the key advances made in recent years in our understanding of both equilibrium and dynamic aspects of mesoscopic structures, most talks at the conference were given by world class researchers in the field, who included, among others, Prof J S Higgins, CBE, FRS (Imperial College, London), Prof D Frenkel (FOM, Amsterdam), Prof M E Cates (Edinburgh), Prof R C Ball (Warwick), Prof S Ramaswamy (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore), Prof R Pandit (Bangalore), Dr J A Yeomans (Oxford), Prof S Puri (JNU, New Delhi), Dr D Langevin (CRPP, Bordeaux), and Prof W G M Agterof (Unilever Research, Vlaardingen).

The field of food colloids is concerned with the structural and dynamic aspects of multi-phase food systems - dispersions, emulsions, foams, gels - viewed from a physical chemistry perspective as assemblies of molecules and particles in various states of organisation. The main molecular components of food colloids are proteins, lipids and polysaccharides. The primary objective of the field is to relate the structural, stability and rheological properties of such systems to the interactions between constituent components and to their distribution between the bulk phases and various kinds of interfaces. This volume records most of the lecture programme at the international conference on "Food Colloids - Proteins, Lipids and Polysaccharides" held in Sweden on 24-26th April 1996.

Introduction to the Physical Chemistry of Foods provides an easy-to-understand text that encompasses the basic principles of physical chemistry and their relationship to foods and their processing. Based on the author’s years of teaching and research experience in the physical chemistry of food, this book offers the necessary depth of information and mathematical bases presented in a clear manner for individuals with minimal physical chemistry background. The text begins with basic physical chemistry concepts, building a foundation of knowledge so readers can then grasp the physical chemistry of food, including processes such as crystallization, melting, distillation, blanching, and homogenization as well as rheology and emulsion and foam stability. The chapters cover thermodynamic systems, temperature, and ideal gases versus real gases; chemical thermodynamics and the behavior of liquids and solids, along with phase transitions; and the thermodynamics of small molecule and macromolecule dispersions and solutions. The text describes surface activity, interfaces, and adsorption of molecules. Attention is paid to surface active materials, with a focus on self-assembled and colloidal structures. Emulsions and foams are covered in a separate chapter. The book also introduces some of the main macroscopic manifestations of colloidal (and other) interactions in terms of rheology. Finally, the author describes chemical kinetics, including enzyme kinetics, which is vital to food science. This book provides a concise, readable account of the physical chemistry of foods, from basic thermodynamics to a range of applied topics, for students, scientists, and engineers with an interest in food science.