The First Binational USA-USSR Seminar-Symposium on the Theory of Light Scattering in Condensed Matter was held in Moscow 26-30 May 1975. The initial conception for a light scattering seminar of about fifty scientists - half from each side, including theorists and experimenters "well versed in theory" - arose from discussions between Professor J. L. Birman and Professor K. K. Rebane at the 1971 Paris International Conference on Light Scattering in Solids. This conception won approval among the active scientists on both sides. After considerable planning and some delays, it received both...

Although much work has been performed on measure- ments and interpretation of light absorption by opaque or nearly opaque solids, it is surprising to note that until recently relatively little reliable experimental data, and much less theoretical work was available on the nature of transparent solids. This, in spite of the fact that a vast majority of engineering and device ap- plications of a solid depend on its optical transparency. Needless to say, all solids are both transparent and opa- que depending on the spectral region of consideration. The absorption processes that limit the...

In June 1978 the University of Rhode Island conducted a three-day short course on Recent Advances in Fiber Optics. followed by a two-day conference on the Physics of Fiber Optics. The course contained over a dozen lectures spanning a wide range of subject matter from fundamental theory to operational systems. presented by well-known scientists from industry. government and academic institutions. The conference. on the other hand. emphasized basic research on fiber optics and related subjects. This volume contains both papers presented at the conference. as well as the majority of the lectures...