Based on a number of new discoveries resulting from 10 years of Chandra and XMM-Newton observations and corresponding theoretical works, this is the first book to address significant progress in the research of the Hot Interstellar Matter in Elliptical Galaxies. A fundamental understanding of the physical properties of the hot ISM in elliptical galaxies is critical, because they are directly related to the formation and evolution of elliptical galaxies via star formation episodes, environmental effects such as stripping, infall, and mergers, and the growth of super-massive black holes. Thanks to the outstanding spatial resolution of Chandra and the large collecting area of XMM-Newton, various fine structures of the hot gas have been imaged in detail and key physical quantities have been accurately measured, allowing theoretical interpretations/predictions to be compared and tested against observational results. This book will bring all readers up-to-date on this essential field of research.

This volume contains all but one of the lectures and seminars presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on HOI Thin Plasmas in Astrophysics held in Cargese, Corsica, from September 8 to 18, 1987. The meeting was planned in collaboration with the members of the Scientific Organizing Committee, 10 whom I am grateful for suggesting a comprehensive and well balanced program. The SOC was comprised of Prof. J. Bleeker (Space Research Institute. Utrecht, The Netherlands), Dr. C. Cesarsky (CEN Saclay, France), Dr. R. Mushotzky (GSFC, USA), Prof. K. Pounds (University of Leicester, UK), Prof. H. Schnopper (Danish Space Research Laboratory, Denmark), Dr. H. Tananbaum (Center for Astrophysics, USA), Dr. G. Trinchieri (Arcetri Observatory, Italy), and Prof. 1. Truemper (MPE, Garching, Germany). The ASI, fully supported by the NATO Scientific Affairs Division, was organized with the intent of providing a critical and up-to-date overview of our present kowledge and understanding of the properties of hot thin plasmas in astrophysics as they are revealed by X-ray observations from space. The X-ray and UV emission from optically thin thermal plasmas is a common feature of many astrophysical systems. This type of emission occurs in the solar corona and in the coronae of other stars, in supernova remnants and in the hot interstellar medium, in normal galaxies and galactic halos, and in the intergalactic gas in clusters.

This book contains the proceedings of the sixth Eurographics Workshop on Vir tual Environments. The event took place from June 1 to June 2, 2000, in Am sterdam. We hope that readers will find these proceedings to be valuable, not only for virtual environment researchers, but also for practitioners developing or using virtual environment applications. We are glad to report that visibility of the workshop continues to expand and that virtual environment researchers and practitioners from allover the world are submitting papers. This year, 40 papers and case studies were submitted of which 20 were accepted. In addition, we are glad to see that the focus of the workshop is also expanding. We accepted 6 research papers on evaluation of virtual environments and there was a broad sampling of other topics. We would like to thank all those involved in organizing the symposium. In particular, thanks go to Mieke Brune who was in charge of the local organization. In addition, we want to thank the international program committee for their excellent, yet laborious, job in reviewing all submitted papers. The quality of the workshop is a reflection of the quality of the submitted papers and the quality of the reviewing process.

Along with the traditional optical window, many new windows have been opened on galaxies in the last two decades, made possible by new developments in groundbased detectors and by space missions that allow detection of photons that are otherwise absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere. Galaxies can now be observed in the radio, submillimeter, IR, optical, UV, X- and gamma-ray bands, each window allowing us to learn more about galactic components and properties. These developments have also imposed the view that a deeper understanding of even normal galaxies requires a panchromatic approach, making use of all of the data gathered from the different windows to synthesize a comprehensive physical image of these complex astronomical systems. Windows on Galaxies presents a comprehensive view of galaxies through all the available windows, bringing together both theoretical and experimental approaches in the form of a series of reviews reporting the most recent developments complemented by contributed talks and discussions. TEXT NO. 2 The sixth workshop of the Advanced School of Astronomy examined galaxies through all available wavelength windows. Over the last twenty years, new wavelength windows have been opened in astronomy which have created many new possibilities for the observation of the properties of galaxies. The outcome of the meeting clearly stated that the approach towards the studying of galaxies should be panchromatic. Each window, from radio to gamma-rays, shows different components, and a synthesis of this knowledge presents astronomers with a comprehensive physical image of these astronomical systems: star formation, evolution of galaxies, molecular contents, gas flows, interstellar matter and properties of galaxies in the several wavelength fields are discussed in this volume.