Water is the most important element for a life. Scientists have been
doing thorough investigations on the properties of water while engineers
have - ploited water in various industrial processes that aim at better
optimization of the quality of industrial products. The knowledge of the
physico-chemical properties of various liquids is extremely important in
the ?eld of life s- ences. Recently, the study of liquids containing
nanoparticles has been gr- ing, sincee. g.
themoderndevelopmentofnewdrugsbybioa?nityassays, and drug delivery is
based more and more on the exploitation of nanoparticles in liquid
phase. Optical metrology in context of drugs development is becoming an
important tool in high-throuhgput screening of potential molecules. -
fortunately, process liquids in life sciences and in industrial
environments are usually "ill-behaving" and it is usually di?cult to
monitor their condition. Fortunately,
opticalsensingbasedonre?ectometrycanbeexploitedininsp- tion of the
quality of transparent and turbid liquids. This book is exceptional in
the sense that it introduces the theory and practical re?ectometry
between same covers. We recommend this book for beginners and
professionals who are doing research or working with a variety of
liquids either in academic or engineering societies. The book is helpful
for physicists, chemists and en- neers since it covers topics related to
basic physics and optics, optical spectra analysis, optical metrology
and practical building of re?ectometers. The authors wish to express
their cordial thanks to Professor Rauno Aulaskari for helping in the
formulation of Appendix B and to Dr. Chun Ye for his critical comments.
We will also remember with warmth Mrs.
