Michael Malin received a BS from City College of New York and a Ph.D. from Rutgers (Biochemistry). This was followed by postdoctorals at Rutgers (Organic) and then Brandeis (Bio-organic). He taught chemistry at Western Connecticut State College/University (16 years) and at Sarah Lawrence College (2 years). He covered courses in general, organic and biochemistry. At SLC, he taught a course in the chemistry of art materials, and this book came out of that experience. When not teaching, he was employed by Technicon Instruments Corporation/Bayer Diagnostics for 23 years. His role was generally to solve stability problems related to both liquid reagent formulations and machine parts in the development of automated blood analyzers. The scope of these problems varied widely; from the instability of a photo-polymerizable acrylic adhesive to the erosion of alumina shear valves. When he left industry, he resumed thinking about art materials, and found common chemical/mechanistic themes relating to stability problems. Eventually, this book was the result. His hobbies include: international travel, playing double bass in jazz groups, salsa dancing and cycling.