J.E. Enderby At the last NATO-ASI on liquids held in Corsica, (August 1977),Professor de Gennes, in his summary of that meeting, suggested that the next ASI should concentrate on some specific aspect of the subject and mentioned explicitly ionic solutions as one possibility. The challenge was taken up by Marie-Claire Bellissent-Funel and George Neilson; I am sure that all the participants would wish to congratulate our two colleagues for putting together an outstanding programme of lectures, round tables and poster session. The theory which underlies the subject was covered by four leading authorities: J.-P. Hansen (Paris) set out the general framework in terms of the statistical mechanics of bulk and surface properties; H.L. Friedman (Stony Brook) focused attention on ionic liquids at equilibrium, and J.B. Hubbard considered non-equilibrium properties such as the electrical conductivity and ionic friction coefficients. Finally, the basic theory of polyelectrolytes treated as charged linear polymers in aqueous solution was presented by J.M. Victor (Paris).
