This book is a follow-up of our previous book, Positron and Positronium
Chemistry, published in 1988, edited by two of the current editors, D.M.
Schrader and Y.C. Jean. The idea of publishing a second comprehensive
book on the topic of positronium chemistry began in 1997 when one of the
editors, Professor D.M. Schrader, conducted a positron summer school (PSS-
97) three days preceding the 11th International Conference on Positron
Annihilation (ICPA-11) organized by one of the authors, Professor Y.C. Jean
in Kansas City. In PSS-97 about sixty students enrolled in a one-credit hour
graduate course, "Special Topics in Physical Chemistry," offered at the
University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). Instructors were those
scientists most active in positronium chemistry, P. Coleman, J. Duplatre, H.
Stoll, D.M. Schrader, R.M. Nieminen, and Y.C. Jean who served as the
official instructor at UMKC. During the positron summer school, the idea of
publishing a graduate-level textbook in positronium chemistry crystallized.
At the same time, we realized that positron and positronium chemistry had
advanced significantly during the decade since we published the first book in
1988 and a new comprehensive book was needed for scientists who wish to
enter this area of research.