This primer provides an introduction to the subject of surfaces at the level of undergraduates and first year postgraduates. There are three chapters. The first chapter concentrates on gas adsorption at solid surfaces and covers topics including Langmuir adsorption isotherms, heats of adsorption, BET isotherms, physisorption, chemisorption, precursor adsorption kinetics, well-defined surfaces, UHV, surface sensitivity and selectivity, surface diffusion and electrons interacting with matter. Chapter two then outlines the physico-chemical principles of XPS, AES, LEED, STM, AFM, work function measurements, UPS, TPD, molecular beams, HREELS and RAIRS, and the types of fundamental surface information each of these techniques provides. The final chapter contains a series of worked examples and problems, bringing together the various strands developed in Chapters 1 and 2 in order to elucidate surface phenomena. The book is unique in its mix of 'Classical' and 'Modern' surface science and should be relevant to chemists, physicists, and material scientists.