Abstract
Capillarity is the study of the interfaces between two immiscible liquids, or between a liquid and air. The interfaces are deformable: they are free to change their shape in order to minimize their surface energy. The field was created in the early part of the 19th century by Pierre Simon de Laplace (1749–1827) and Thomas Young (1773–1829). Henri Bouasse wrote a wonderful account of developments in capillarity in a book he published in 1924.1 This discipline enables us to understand the games water can play to break the monotony of a rainy day or the tricks it performs while washing dishes. On a more serious note, capillarity plays a major role in numerous scientific endeavors (soil science, climate, plant biology, surface physics, and more), as well as in the chemical industry (product formulation in pharmacology and domestics, the glass industry, automobile manufacturing, textile production, etc.).
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de Gennes, PG., Brochard-Wyart, F., Quéré, D. (2004). Capillarity: Deformable Interfaces. In: Capillarity and Wetting Phenomena. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21656-0_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21656-0_1
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