The main goal of this book is to present the Kirkwood-Buff (KB) Theory of solution in a simple and didactic manner to make it understandable by those who may have a minimal background in thermodynamics. All the necessary concepts in statistical mechanics featured in the theory are also explained in a simple and intuitive way. Aside from the fact that the KB Theory may be the most important and useful theory of solutions, it is also the most general theory that can be applied to all possible solutions including aqueous solutions of proteins and nucleic acids. Originally published in 1951, the KB theory was dormant for over 20 years. It became extremely useful after the publication of the "Inversion of the KB theory" by the author Arieh Ben-Naim in 1978. Researchers will find the theory useful in solving any problem in mixtures or solutions in any phase. After a couple of introductory chapters giving the reader grounding in the necessary chemical thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, the author presents a systematic derivation of Kirkwood-Buff theory and of its inversion. Some examples of applications of the KB theory, to water, aqueous solutions, protein folding, and self-association of proteins, are provided in the book.

The Kirkwood-Buff Theory of Solutions is addressed to advanced undergraduate and graduate-level students in physical chemistry, chemical engineering, and chemical physics. Some basic grounding in thermodynamics is a prerequisite for reading this book.