(from preface)

The use of heterogeneous catalysts as a tool in the laboratory, in preparative chemistry, and in large scale industrial production has expanded beyond any expectations during the last three decades.
Catalytic processes today dominate the production of sulfuric acid, ammonia, methanol, and many other industrial products. The cracking of mineral oils, the hydrogenation, transformation, and synthesis of hydrocarbons are almost all centered around catalytic conversions carried out with many different catalysts including some of highly specific action. Many more catalyzed reactions are being carried out in batch processes and in continuous operations, in heterogeneous and in homogeneous systems...