A decade ago, Russian scientist Staly A. Losev assembled top scientists from various Russian institutions at Moscow State University and invited them to pool their knowledge about the changes gases undergo in a variety of aerospace settings from combustion of rocket fuels to hypersonic flow paths to the exteriors of atmospheric reentry vehicles. The work grew into the AVAGADRO Laboratory of Moscow State Universitys Institute of Mechanics. The models and formulas produced by the team of authors are contained in the second edition of the text book, "Physical and Chemical Processes in Gas Dynamics." The text provides a valuable window into the design philosophies and models that govern former-Soviet engineers and scientists. "Normally, these things are not accessible to U.S. engineers, "said Paul Zarchan of MITs Lincoln Laboratory, Editor-in-Chief of AIAAs Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics Series that includes this text. Accompanying the book is the Russian-produced Chemical Workbench software, which is a user-friendly, Windows-based interface for performing calculations based on the models of gas dynamics contained in the book. The book and software provide concise, exhaustive, and clear descriptions of terms, notations, concepts, methods, laws, and techniques. It is invaluable for students and engineers who are determined to more accurately predict the physical and chemical processes in gas and plasma dynamics.