The seminal book by Mary J. Marples The Ecology of Human Skin and that of W. C. Noble and Dorothy A. Somerville The Microbiology of Human Skin were monographs – attempts to encapsulate all the knowledge on a limited topic. This approach, which also attempted a comprehensive bibliography, is no longer feasible, perhaps no longer desirable. The reasons for this stem in part from a vastly increased knowledge of the components of the human skin flora and their role in disease of organs or systems other than skin, and in part from a recognition of the similarities and dissimilarities of the skin flora of mammals other than humans. Accordingly, it seemed appropriate to ask a number of those active in research to contribute a chapter on their areas of special expertise and to provide access to classical and recent publications without attempting a complete bibliography.

This should not be taken to imply that all is now known; we have a detailed knowledge of some areas but are almost totally ignorant in others. We do not know, for example, the role, at the molecular level, of skin lipid in promoting or preventing colonization of skin, even whether some lipid components are important for the host or the microbe. We know in exquisite detail the metabolic products of testosterone metabolism that contribute to axillary odour but have no adequate taxonomy by which to classify the coryneforms that are responsible for the metabolism.