It has been said that pollution is a biological problem that can be solved by the application of physical and chemical methods. Whether this is a completely true statement is often a moot point, however, because the opportunity to apply any solution is usually won only after the employment of politics. Thus the study of pollution is a truly interdisciplinary one, including as it does the three Ps—pollutants, processes, and people. A cursory glance at the contents of this book will indicate that an attempt has been made to cover all bets. Some of the material is mathematical, varying in complexity from arithmetic to calculus, but much of it is non-mathematical, addressing the sociological and economic aspects of the problem.
