Spitz, who first suggested the idea of a seminar on soap technology to the American Oil Chemists' Society more than 15 years ago, provides a fascinating 50-page history of soaps and detergents—complete with reproductions of early advertisements and even a couple of poems. The remaining 17 chapters cover topics such as soap structure and phase behavior; formulation of toilet, combo, and synthetic cleansing bars; specifications, formulations, and performance of palm- vs. tallow-based soaps; laundry products in bar form; multicolored and multicomponent soaps; raw materials for sulfonation and sulfation; new developments in liquid hand soaps and body wash products; secondary surfactants for personal care applications; new anionic surfactants derived from olefin sulfonic acids; personal care products based on cosmeceutical and nutraceutical ingredients; certified organic personal care (an emerging market); and technical aspects of perfumery.