The collection comprises the following series: Articles, Speeches and Writings; Notes, Drafts and Working Papers; Committees, Conferences, Organizations; and Scientific Correspondence. With few exceptions nothing survives of Rideal's early scientific career, and very little of his long and extensive involvement in scientific committees and societies. Most of the speeches and writings belong to the last years of Rideal's life (1970-1973); several of them are of interest as they contain reminiscences of his career and of the development of colloid and surface sciences. The scientific notes and working papers similarly are mostly from the later period as is the small amount of surviving correspondence.