One of the most profound revolutions brought about by quantum mechanics is that it does away with the distinction between waves and particles: atoms, in particular, can exhibit all the properties that we associate with wave phenomena, such as diffraction and interference; it has recently even become possible to prepare collections of atoms in coherent states, like those of photons in a laser beam. These developments are at the core of the rapidly expanding field of atom optics. --Atom Optics gradually leads the reader from elementary concepts to the frontiers of the field. It is organized in...