There can be no doubt of the significance of nanoscience and technology to research, politics and popular culture. The promise of vast benefits to medicine, technology and everyday life has been balanced by a hysteria of possible dangers and catastrophes. As in most cases, the majority of the fear stems from ignorance.

It is unclear whether nanoscience and technology constitute new disciplines or merely an extension of materials science, physics and chemistry. This book makes that clearer than most, writing from a predominantly physical chemistry perspective.

Starting from surface science, the text links the old with the new. The book's main theme centres on the effect of surface to volume fraction, building upon well known low-dimensionality effects on complicated devices. Nanoparticles therefore constitute a significant portion, but do not dominate - nanowires, nanotubes, semiconductor quantum wells and confinement all receive adequate treatment.

Written in discrete chapters, subjects are concisely dealt with, but with adequate references for further reading. The target audience seems to be chemistry and materials science graduates, but the book could be useful for multidisciplinary scientists of other backgrounds, especially engineering and physics.

The final chapter deals with the hopes and fears of the field of nanotechnology. This is refreshingly objective, and covers topics from applications to environmental hazards, and the faster realisation of nanomaterials over the coming of nanotechnology. Hazards are dealt with in a scientific manner, with responsible warnings about toxicity balanced with comments on the existence of nanoscale materials and man's exposure to them over the past few decades.

Overall, the text is a valiant attempt to cover a plethora of topics in sufficient but not exhaustive detail. The subjects of the chapters are well chosen, thorough and well annotated. I would recommend it as a solid, good value addition to any science library.