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The idea for an international symposium on the interstellar medium was first discussed at the University of Wyoming during the summer of 1984. It was obvious that the outstanding natural beauty of the Teton mountain range in northwestern Wyoming must be matched by a meeting with the broadest appeal to the astronomical community. If the meeting was to produce a book, it must likewise be an important contribution to the astronomical literature. It was for these reasons that early in the discussions, it was decided that the University should host a "school". with the invited speakers presenting tutorials on a broad range of topics involving the interstellar medium. The symposium proceedings would then be a compilation of the written versions of these presentations. It has been nearly a decade since Lyman Spitzer published his classic text on the interstellar medium and we felt the need for a school and book that would focus on the recent developments in our understanding of the inter stellar medium. Thus, we view this two-volume set as an adjunct text to Spitzer's book.
List of contents
1.- Section I: The Milky Way as a Galaxy.- The Milky Way as a Galaxy.- Section II: Observations of Components of the Interstellar Medium.- H2 in the Galaxy.- Molecular Clouds: An Overview.- Observations of Molecular Cloud Structure and Internal Motions.- The Atomic Component.- Hot Interstellar Gas in the Galactic Disk and Halo.- The High-Energy Component of the ISM-Cosmic-Ray Phenomena.- Section III: Interstellar Magnetic Properties.- Interstellar Magnetic Fields.- The Theory of the Galactic Magnetic Field.- Section IV: Interstellar Processes on a Galactic Scale.- Panel Discussion: Phases of the Interstellar Medium.- Mass and Energy Balance in the Interstellar Medium: How to Model the Disk Gas in our Galaxy.- Cloud Formation and Destruction.- Section V: Dynamical Processes in Interstellar Clouds.- The Physics of Interstellar Shock Waves.- Theory of Collapse and Protostar Formation.- Theoretical Approaches to Interstellar Turbulence.- 2.- Section I: Interstellar Dust Grains.- Composition, Structure, and Chemistry of Interstellar Dust.- Infrared Absorption and Emission Characteristics of Interstellar PAHs.- Grain Destruction, Formation, and Evolution.- Interstellar Grains in the Solar System.- Section II: Interstellar Chemical Processes.- Element Abundances in the Interstellar Atomic Material.- Chemical Abundances in Molecular Clouds.- Gas Phase Chemical Processes in Molecular Clouds.- Chemical Evolution of Molecular Clouds.- Chemical Evolution of Galaxies.- The Solar System/Interstellar Medium Connection: Gas Phase Abundances.- Section III: Heating, Cooling and Radiative Processes.- Observations of the Cooling of the Interstellar Gas.- Heating and Cooling of the Interstellar Gas.- Atomic and Molecular Physics of Interstellar Heating and Cooling.- Masers in the Interstellar Medium.
