Pharmacists or their pharmaceutical equivalents have been responsible for compounding medicines for cen turies. Recently this role has been challenged in the pharmaceutical literature with suggestions and recom mendations that it is inappropriate for the pharmaceu tical practitioner to compound medicines in a local pharmacy environment. Notwithstanding this valid debate, it is clear that a vast array of skills and knowl edge with regard to medicines’ compounding has been accrued and refined, certainly over the last two centu ries. In the present environment it is possible that this knowledge and skill base might be dispersed and ulti mately lost. However, it is not beyond the bounds of imagination to conceive that there will be times, albeit possibly in the face of some form of environmental, cultural or local emergency, when pharmacists might be called upon to extemporaneously compound med icines when conventional supply chains are either unavailable or have broken down.

This text has been designed with a number of func tions in mind. First, it is important to be aware of some of the historical pathways that have led to the present technological position of pharmacists. In addition, unless many of the antiquated measuring systems, methodologies and formulations are preserved in some reference work, they might be lost forever, or at least be totally unavailable except to the dogged historian. Primarily, however, this work is intended as a reference based tutorial to the methods employed in medicines’ compounding. The text has been designed to allow students and practitioners to be able to exam ine either all or part of the subsequent chapters in order to familiarise themselves with the compounding tech niques necessary to produce products of appropriate quality and efficacy. In addition, the text is supported by moving images in order to augment the necessary techniques and expertise.

The text also has a role when considering the design and implementation of standard operating pro cedures (SOPs) pertinent to certain sectors of profes sional practice today. Although we do not expect all practitioners of pharmacy to be compounding medi cines on a daily basis, we hope that should the need arise this text will effectively support any work of this nature that might be encountered.

This second edition has updated the first edition and, to assist the student compounder, the text now includes examples of the pharmaceutical label for each worked example.