Few of us can any longer keep up with the flood of scientific literature, even
in specialized subfields. Any attempt to do more, and be broadly educated with
respect to a large domain of science, has the appearance of tilting at windmills.
Yet the synthesis of ideas drawn from different subjects into new, powerful,
general concepts is as valuable as ever, and the desire to remain educated
persists in all scientists. This series, Adoances in Chemical Physics, is devoted to
helping the reader obtain general information about a wide variety of topics in
chemical physics, which field we interpret very broadly. Our intent is to have
experts present comprehensive analyses of subjects of interest and to
encourage the expression of individual points of view. We hope that this
approach to the presentation of an overview of a subject will both stimulate
new research and serve as a personalized learning text for beginners in a field.