Page 5 - Subyek Encyclopedia - Encyclopedia of Separation Science

viii PREFACE

Preface

The ability to perform separations for the analysis, concentration or isolation of substances present in mixtures
(of varying degrees of complexity) is arguably fundamental to the maintenance of our technological civiliza-
tion. Separations can also be rather difRcult to deRne, and over the course of a number of debates where
we tried to ‘separate the wheat from the chaff ’, we deRned separations for the purposes of this work as
‘processes of any scale by which the components of a mixture are separated from each other without
substantial chemical modiTcation’. Of course some of the processes that are used in separations have a very
long history, and the terms used to describe them are in widespread general use. So, we talk about how it is
possible to distil wisdom, precipitate an argument, extract meaning and crystallize an idea and who can
predict the future uses of the word chromatography? Whilst separations have been practised as an art for
millennia, the last hundred years or so has seen the elucidation of the fundamentals that lie behind many of
these processes. Thus, although separations are most widely used for achieving some practical objective, a Rrm
theoretical understanding has been put into place that does allow the use of the term separation science.We
have tried here to reSect the theoretical and practical aspects of the topics in this encyclopedia, and have
attempted to achieve a blend of theory, practice and applications that will enable someone knowledgeable in
a Reld to go directly to a relevant article; whilst the novice can begin with an overview and gradually iterate
towards the practical application.
One thing is clear, separations cover such a wide range of topics that no single individual can be
knowledgeable, let alone expert, in them all. It is against this background that we decided that an encyclopedia
designed to cover this science would be of value as a single source of reference that would provide access to the
whole Reld of separations.
For the purposes of deRning the scope and coverage of the encyclopedia we have divided the area of
separations into 12 families, or topic areas, using separation principles based on afRnity, centrifugation,
chromatography, crystallization, distillation, electrophoresis, extraction, Sotation, ion exchange, mass spec-
trometry, membranes and particle size. Whilst there is no doubt that different editors might have grouped
these slightly differently, they did not seem to us to be capable of further reduction. Taken together, we
believe that they provide coverage of the whole Reld.
In preparing this multi-author and multi-volume work, all of the editors have been conscious of the gaps in
their own expertise and the debt which they and the publishers owe to the Editorial Advisory Board, who to
a large degree have compensated for the deRciencies in our own knowledge. Their help has been invaluable, as
without them we would not have been able to achieve the necessary balance and it was, therefore, a source of
particular sadness that one of them, Ted Woodburn, died prior to publication. Without Ted it is quite clear
that the topic area of Sotation would not have been so well covered, and we would like to think that he would
have been well pleased with the Rnished work. We also hope that the masterly overview which he contributed
to the encyclopedia, will be a lasting memorial to him. We are grateful to Jan Cilliers for stepping into the role
of Editorial Board Advisor on Sotation at short notice. We would also like to acknowledge the valuable input
of G. J. Arkenbout at the beginning of this project, who was able to work with us for a short period of time
before his death.
Assembling this knowledgeable and enthusiastic group of experts was a difRcult task, and the editors
would also wish to acknowledge the role of the Major Reference Works development team at Academic Press
in this whole area, as well as thanking them for their assistance and patience throughout the project, from the
initial planning to its Rnal publication.
Finally, of course, we must acknowledge the contributions of the authors whose expertise constitutes this
encyclopedia. Some of them have become Rrm friends in the period between the inception of this project and
its completion. After all, separation science separates things but brings people together.

Ian D. Wilson, Edward R. Adlard, Michael Cooke, Colin F. Poole
Editors