• Free this month
• Industrial R&D in transition
• Need for clean energy, waste transmutation revives interest in hybrid fusion–fission reactors
• Special report: Obama proposes big increases for energy, climate change, and basic research
• Obituaries
• New books
• New products
• Letters

• Most popular articles
• Gedanken experiment: Levitate a physics sitcom?
  Points of View
• Nanoplasmonics: The physics behind the applications
  February 2011
• Half-quantum vortices
  Physics Update
• Quantum criticality
  February 2011

New books

astronomy and astrophysics

Accretion Processes in Star Formation. 2nd ed. L. Hartmann. Cambridge Astrophysics Series 47. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2009 [2000]. $90.00 paper (332 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-53199-3  Buy at Amazon

Astronomical Applications of Astrometry: Ten Years of Exploitation of the Hipparcos Satellite Data. M. Perryman. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2009. $140.00 (670 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-51489-7  Buy at Amazon

Chaos in Astronomy: Conference 2007. G. Contopoulos, P. A. Patsis, eds. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings. Proc. conf., Athens, Greece, Sept. 2007. Springer, Berlin, 2009. $199.00 (496 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-75825-9  Buy at Amazon

Choosing and Using a New CAT: Getting the Most from Your Schmidt Cassegrain or Any Catadioptric Telescope. R. Mollise. Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series. Springer, New York, 2009. $29.95 paper (335 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-09771-8  Buy at Amazon

Cool Discs, Hot Flows: The Varying Faces of Accreting Compact Objects. M. Axelsson, ed. AIP Conference Proceedings 1054. Proc. mtg., Funäsdalen, Sweden, Mar. 2008. AIP, Melville, NY, 2008. $145.00 paper (234 pp.). ISBN 978-0-7354-0584-4  Buy at Amazon

The Emission-Line Universe. J. Cepa, ed. Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics XVIII. Proc. sch., Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Nov.–Dec. 2006. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2009. $140.00 (296 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-89886-7  Buy at Amazon

Evolution and Seismic Tools for Stellar Astrophysics. M. J. P. F. G. Monteiro, ed. Springer, New York, 2008. $229.00 (261 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4020-9439-2  Buy at Amazon

Galaxies in the Local Volume. B. S. Koribalski, H. Jerjen, eds. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings. Proc. symp., Sydney, Australia, July 2007. Springer, New York, 2008. $189.00 (360 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4020-6932-1  Buy at Amazon

Graduate School in Astronomy. P. Pellegrini, S. Daflon, J. Alcaniz, E. Telles, eds. AIP Conference Proceedings 1057. Proc. course, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Oct. 2007. AIP, Melville, NY, 2008. $105.00 (127 pp.). ISBN 978-0-7354-0587-5  Buy at Amazon

Handbook of Star Forming Regions. Vol. 1: The Northern Sky. B. Reipurth, ed. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Monographs 4. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, 2008. $80.00 (1023 pp.). ISBN 978-1-58381-670-7  Buy at Amazon

Handbook of Star Forming Regions. Vol. 2: The Southern Sky. B. Reipurth, ed. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Monographs 5. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, 2008. $80.00 (890 pp.). ISBN 978-1-58381-671-4  Buy at Amazon

Helioseismology, Asteroseismology, and MHD Connections. L. Gizon, P. Cally, J. Leibacher, eds. Springer, New York, 2008. $199.00 (637 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-89481-2  Buy at Amazon

High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy. F. A. Aharonian, W. Hofmann, F. M. Rieger, eds. AIP Conference Proceedings 1085. Proc. mtg., Heidelberg, Germany, July 2008. AIP, Melville, NY, 2009. $329.00 (917 pp.). ISBN 978-0-7354-0616-2  Buy at Amazon

Panoramic Views of Galaxy Formation and Evolution. T. Kodama, T. Yamada, K. Aoki, eds. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series 399. Proc. conf., Hayama, Japan, Dec. 2007. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, 2008. $77.00 (513 pp.). ISBN 978-1-58381-668-4  Buy at Amazon

Physics, Formation and Evolution of Rotating Stars. A. Maeder. Astronomy and Astrophysics Library. Springer, Berlin, 2009. $159.00 (829 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-76948-4  Buy at Amazon

Preparing for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy: A Hands-on Symposium. M. G. Gibbs, J. Barnes, J. G. Manning, B. Partridge, eds. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series 400. Proc. symp. and wksp., St. Louis, MO, June 2008. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, 2008. $77.00 (575 pp.). ISBN 978-1-58381-672-1  Buy at Amazon

Relativistic Astrophysics. D.-.S. Lee, W. Lee, S.-S. Xue, eds. AIP Conference Proceedings 1059. Proc. wksp., Taipei-Hualien, Taiwan, May–June 2008. AIP, Melville, NY, 2008. $125.00 paper (202 pp.). ISBN 978-0-7354-0589-9  Buy at Amazon

The Rotation of Sun and Stars. J.-P. Rozelot, C. Neiner, eds. Lecture Notes in Physics 765. Springer, Berlin, 2009. $89.95 (263 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-87830-8  Buy at Amazon

RS Ophiuchi (2006) and the Recurrent Nova Phenomenon. A. Evans, M. F. Bode, T. J. O’Brien, M. J. Darnley, eds. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series 401. Proc. wksp., Keele, UK, June 2007. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, 2008. $77.00 (360 pp.). ISBN 978-1-58381-674-5  Buy at Amazon

Science with the VLT in the ELT Era. A. Moorwood, ed. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings. Proc. wksp., Garching, Germany, Oct. 2007. Springer, New York, 2009. $229.00 (512 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4020-9189-6  Buy at Amazon

Sirius Matters. N. Brosch. Astrophysics and Space Science Library 354. Springer, New York, 2008. $159.00 (216 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4020-8318-1  Buy at Amazon

Tools of Radio Astronomy. 5th ed. T. L. Wilson, K. Rohlfs, S. Hüttemeister. Astronomy and Astrophysics Library. Springer, Berlin, 2009 [2004]. $129.00 (515 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-85121-9  Buy at Amazon

Turbulence, Dynamos, Accretion Disks, Pulsars and Collective Plasma Processes. S. S. Hasan, R. T. Gangadhara, V. Krishan, eds. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings. Proc. wksp., Kodaikanal, India, Aug.–Sept. 2007. Springer, New York, 2009. $199.00 (342 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4020-8867-4

atomic and molecular physics

LACAME 2006. C. Larica, R. C. Mercader, C. Partiti, J. R. Gancedo, eds. Proc. conf., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Nov. 2006. Springer, Dordrecht, the Netherlands, 2008. $209.00 (120 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-85558-3

biological and medical physics

Bionanotechnology: Global Prospects. D. E. Reisner, ed. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL, 2009. $89.95 (349 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8493-7528-6   Buy at Amazon

Dissipative Solitons: From Optics to Biology and Medicine. N. Akhmediev, A. Ankiewicz, eds. Lecture Notes in Physics 751. Springer, Berlin, 2008. $129.00 (477 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-78216-2  Buy at Amazon

Integrated Molecular and Cellular Biophysics. V. Raicu, A. Popescu. Springer, New York, 2008. $189.00 (250 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4020-8267-2  Buy at Amazon

Introduction to Biomedical Engineering Technology. L. J. Street. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL, 2008. $83.95 (325 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8493-8533-9  Buy at Amazon

Introduction to Macromolecular Bind-ing Equilibria. C. P. Woodbury. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL, 2008. $99.95 (252 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4200-5298-5  Buy at Amazon

Nanoparticles and Nanodevices in Biological Applications. Vol. 1: The INFN Lectures. S. Bellucci, ed. Lecture Notes in Nanoscale Science and Technology 4. Springer, Berlin, 2009. $159.00 (197 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-70943-5   Buy at Amazon

Radiation Protection and Dosimetry: An Introduction to Health Physics. M. G. Stabin. Springer, New York, 2008. $89.95 (378 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-49982-6

chemical physics

Chemistry from First Principles. J. C. A. Boeyens. Springer, New York, 2008. $109.00 (321 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4020-8545-1  Buy at Amazon

Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry No. 43. M. Schlesinger, ed. Springer, New York, 2009. $139.00 (540 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-49580-4

society and government

Scientific Collaboration on the Internet. G. M. Olson, A. Zimmerman, N. Bos, eds. Acting with Technology. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2008. $45.00 (406 pp.). ISBN 978-0-262-15120-7

space and planetary science

Deep Impact as a World Observatory Event: Synergies in Space, Time, and Wavelength. H. U. Käufl, C. Sterken, eds. ESO Astrophysics Symposia. Proc. conf., Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 2006. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2009. $159.00 (331 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-76958-3  Buy at Amazon

Origin and Early Evolution of Comet Nuclei: Workshop Honouring Johannes Geiss on the Occasion of His 80th Birthday. H. Balsiger et al., eds. Space Sciences Series of ISSI. Springer, New York, 2008. $169.00 (316 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-85454-0  Buy at Amazon

Planetary Atmospheric Electricity. F. Leblanc et al., eds. Space Sciences Series of ISSI. Springer, New York, 2008. $189.00 (532 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-87663-4  Buy at Amazon

The Sun: A User’s Manual. C. Vita-Finzi. Springer, New York, 2008. $44.95 (156 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4020-6680-5

statistical physics and thermodynamics

Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering. M. de Souza Lauretto, C. A. de Bragança Pereira, J. M. Stern. AIP Conference Proceedings 1073. Proc. wksp., Boracéia, São Paulo, Brazil, July 2008. AIP, Melville, NY, 2008. $209.00 (384 pp.). ISBN 978-0-7354-0604-9  Buy at Amazon

Modern Thermodynamics with Statistical Mechanics. C. S. Helrich. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2009. $109.00 (402 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-85417-3

texts and education

Clocks in the Sky: The Story of Pulsars. G. McNamara. Springer-Praxis Books in Popular Astronomy. Praxis/Springer, New York, 2008. $29.95 paper (190 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-76560-0  Buy at Amazon

Mathematical Methods: For Students of Physics and Related Fields. 2nd ed. S. Hassani. Springer, New York, 2009 [2000]. $99.00 (831 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-09503-5  Buy at Amazon

Modeling with Data: Tools and Techniques for Scientific Computing. B. Klemens. Princeton U. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2009. $99.50 (454 pp.). ISBN 978-0-691-13314-0  Buy at Amazon

Modern Optical Engineering: The Design of Optical Systems. 4th ed. W. J. Smith. McGraw-Hill, New York, 2008 [2000]. $89.95 (754 pp.). ISBN 978-0-07-147687-4  Buy at Amazon

Physical Biology of the Cell. R. Phillips, J. Kondev, J. Theriot. Garland Science/ Taylor & Francis, New York, 2009. $125.00 paper (807 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8153-4163-5  Buy at Amazon

Quantum Mechanics in a Nutshell. G. D. Mahan. Princeton U. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2009. $65.00 (399 pp.). ISBN 978-0-691-13713-1   Buy at Amazon

Solid State Physics: Essential Concepts. D. W. Snoke. Addison-Wesley/Pearson, San Francisco, 2009. $110.00 (619 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8053-8664-6  Buy at Amazon

Teach Yourself Visually Astronomy. R. Talcott. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2009. $24.99 paper (243 pp.). ISBN 978-0-470-34382-1

theory and mathematical methods

Almost Periodic Oscillations and Waves. C. Corduneanu. Springer, New York, 2009. $89.95 (308 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-09818-0  Buy at Amazon

Aspects of Polaron Theory: Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Problems. N. N. Bogolubov, N. N. Bogolubov Jr. World Scientific, Hackensack, NJ, 2008. $50.00 (176 pp.). ISBN 978-981-283-398-3  Buy at Amazon

Contact Problems: The Legacy of L. A. Galin. L. A. Galin; G. M. L. Gladwell, ed. Solid Mechanics and Its Applications 155. Springer, New York, 2008. $169.00 (315 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4020-9042-4  Buy at Amazon

Discrete Fourier Analysis and Wavelets: Applications to Signal and Image Processing. S. A. Broughton, K. Bryan. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2009. $94.95 (337 pp.). ISBN 978-0-470-29466-6  Buy at Amazon

Fine Structures of Hypberbolic Diffeomorphisms. A. A. Pinto, D. A. Rand, F. Ferreira. Springer Monographs in Mathematics. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2009. $129.00 (353 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-87524-6  Buy at Amazon

Generalized Lie Theory in Mathematics, Physics and Beyond. S. Silvestrov, E. Paal, V. Abramov, A. Stolin, eds. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2009. $129.00 (305 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-85331-2  Buy at Amazon

Geometric Folding Algorithms: Linkages, Origami, Polyhedra. E. D. Demaine, J. O’Rourke. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2009 [2007, reissued]. $49.99 paper (472 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-71522-5  Buy at Amazon

Hilbert Space Operators in Quantum Physics. 2nd ed. J. Blank, P. Exner, M. Havlí

ek. Theoretical and Mathematical Physics. Springer, New York, 2008 [1993]. $139.00 (664 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4020-8869-8  Buy at Amazon

Intermediate Spectral Theory and Quantum Dynamics. C. R. de Oliveira. Progress in Mathematical Physics 54. Birkhäuser, Boston, 2009. $74.95 (410 pp.). ISBN 978-3-7643-8794-5  Buy at Amazon

Kalman Filtering with Real-Time Applications. 4th ed. C. K. Chui, G. Chen. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2009 [1999]. $89.95 (229 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-87848-3  Buy at Amazon

A Mathematical Introduction to Conformal Field Theory. 2nd ed. M. Schottenloher. Lecture Notes in Physics 759. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2008 [1997]. $89.95 (249 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-68625-5  Buy at Amazon

Optimal Transportation Networks: Models and Theory. M. Bernot, V. Caselles, J.-M. Morel. Lecture Notes in Mathematics 1955. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2009. $59.95 paper (200 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-69314-7  Buy at Amazon

Set-Valued Analysis. J.-P. Aubin, H. Frankowska. Modern Birkhäuser Classics. Birkhäuser, Boston, 2009 [1990, reissued]. $49.95 paper (461 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8176-4847-3  Buy at Amazon