ABSTRACT
Thermodynamics is powerful but sometimes seems discouraging. It is powerful because relations of general validity can be derived or, for that matter, relations for which the validity is specified. At the same time it may appear discouraging because the formalism seems abstract and beyond everyday reality. However, as biological interfaces, whatever their complexity, are also subject to the laws of thermodynamics, it is appropriate to start the present book with a review of interfacial thermodynamics. We shall have to discuss what thermodynamics has to say about such features as interfacial energies, interfacial tension, adhesion, adsorption, and particle-particle interaction and about relations between them.
