Preparation and handling of colloidal suspension or even their characterisation is not possible without a basic understanding of the physical effects that prevail on the microscopic level. Some of these effects are directly related to the fineness of the particles because it coincides with a large specific surface area (which corresponds, e.g., to a high adsorption capacity), a considerably curvature of the particle surface (which i. a. promotes dissolution), a high number concentration (i.e. significant osmotic pressure and large collision frequencies), small interparticle distances (i.e. strong interactions between scattered waves), low particle mass (i.e. low weight and inertia), or with the fact that the wavelength of light is larger than particle size (i.e. weak optical scattering). A further effect of the small size of colloidal particles is that their diffusive motion is much faster than for micrometre particles. Moreover, the interactions between colloidal particles are decisive for the macroscopic behaviour of the whole suspension (e.g. with regard to rheology or coagulation). These interactions may be attractive and/or repulsive and depend on the chemical nature and the material properties of the particles. Most of all, they are affected by the interfacial properties which reflect the physico-chemical interaction between the particulate phase, the solvent, and the solutes (e.g. hydrophobicity, adsorption, surface charging).This chapter provides a brief introduction to the fundamentals in colloid science. It addresses the physico-chemical properties of single colloidal particles as well as the processes at the interface and the structure of the interfacial layer. It further examines the non-viscous interactions that occur among colloidal particles. For detailed explanation, the reader is referred to the textbooks of Adamson and Gast