Self-organisation in surfactant solutions

6 Self-organisation in surfactant solutions the Euclidean desert 

We now move away from rigid surfaces and their interactions, and allow the interactions to dictate the formation of bodies md their surface shapes. 

In general the role of molecular forces in self-assembly is extremely subtle. This can be seen from the following simple examples. The simplest example 

The present section gives a brief overview of ideas and the physical notions behind self-assembly of surfactant-water systems. 

A schematic listing of ideas in self-assembly is also indicated in Appendix 3B. These theoretical developments were until recently confined to spheres, cylinders and planes, a Euclidean desert. New developments that allow access to the full variety of shapes used by nature are the subject of other chapters. 

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