The best developed of today's kinetic theories are those for gases and completely ionized plasmas. In recent years, however, kinetic theories of more complicated systems - consisting of free particles as well as those bound in atoms, and an electromagnetic field - have played an increasingly important role. An example of such a system is a partially ionized plasma of gas discharges or in semicon- ductors. The main purpose of this book is the further development of the kinetic theory of systems of this kind. Naturally, it would be impossible to encompass at once all the problems con- cerning...

This book can be looked upon in more ways than one. On the one hand, it describes strikingly interesting and lucid hydrodynamic experiments done in the style of the "good old days" when the physicist needed little more than a piece of string and some sealing wax. On the other hand, it demonstrates how a profound physical analogy can help to get a synoptic view on a broad range of nonlinear phenomena involving self-organization of vortical structures in planetary atmo spheres and oceans, in galaxies and in plasmas. In particular, this approach has elucidated the nature and the mechanism of...