Davis, Hadgraft, and Palin wrote the third chapter which is on medical and pharmaceutical applications of emulsions. There is little doubt the authors compiled a comprehensive survey on the application of emulsion systems to the delivery of drugs and nutrients. This is verified by the 277 references in the chapter's bibliography. The chapter is light on theory, which is suitable given the intent of the volume and the breadth of applications covered. Even perfluorochemical emulsions as artificial blood substitutes are included.
The fourth chapter, agricultural applications, was written by David Becker. Essentially, it discusses emulsions and their application to pesticides and growth regulators for plants. Much information is covered, but its organization lessens its effectiveness. Both Chapter 5 by Krog, Rusom, and Larsson and Chapter 6 by Jaynes cover applications in the food industry. The editor states that the topic requires two chapters since the first discusses preparation of a large area of food emulsions while the second restricts itself to emulsions stabilized by emulsions. Cosmetic emulsions are briefly covered by Breuer in the seventh chapter. The chapter includes discussions on ingredients, manufacture, rheology, and stability. Given the inherent problem of thermodynamic instability, the author should have devoted more than 2 112 pages to a discussion that illustrates problems in this critical area. The final chapter, compiled by the editor, does not really fit the category of applications since it is a bibliography of hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB). Becker states that this bibliography is an update; the most recent previous bibliography of his appeared in 1974. It appears the purpose of this updated chapter is not simply to list those references published since 1974, but instead to recap those published in the 1950s and 60s.
Overall, the volume is reasonably current and provides a broad overview of the application of emulsion technology. It will be a useful addition to the library of anyone who works with emulsions. This is particularly true for the pharmaceutical and food scientist.