Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts, which has appeared in semi-annual volumes since 1969, is devoted to the recording, summarizing and indexing of astronomical publications throughout the world. It is prepared under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (according to a resolution adopted at the 14th General Assembly in 1970). Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts aims to present a comprehensive documenta tion of literature in all fields of astronomy and astrophysics. Every effort will be made to ensure that the average time interval between the date of receipt of the original literature and publication of the abstracts will not exceed eight months. This time interval is near to that achieved by monthly abstracting journals, compared to which our system of accumu lating abstracts for about six months offers the advantage of greater convenience for the user. Volume 32 contains literature published in 1982 and received before February 11, 1983; some older literature which was received late and which is not recorded in earlier volumes is also included. We acknowledge with thanks contributions to this volume by Dr. J. Bou~a, Prague, who surveyed journals and publications in Czech and supplied us with abstracts in English.

Murray Gell-Mann is one of the leading physicists of the world. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1969 for his work on the classification and symmetries of elementary particles, including the approximate SU(3) symmetry of hadrons. His list of publications is impressive; a number of his papers have become landmarks in physics. In 1953, Gell-Mann introduced the strangeness quantum number, conserved by the strong and electromagnetic interactions but not by the weak interaction. In 1954 he and F E Low proposed what was later called the renormalization group. In 1958 he and R P Feynman wrote an important article on the V-A theory of the weak interaction. In 1961 and 1962 he described his ideas about the SU(3) symmetry of hadrons and its violation, leading to the prediction of the Ω- particle. In 1964 he proposed the quark picture of hadrons. In 1971 he and H Fritzsch proposed the exactly conserved “color” quantum number and in 1972 they discussed what they later called quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the gauge theory of color. These major publications and many others are collected in this volume, providing physicists with easy access to much of Gell-Mann's work. Some of the articles are concerned with his recollections of the history of elementary particle physics in the third quarter of the twentieth century.

The relationship between science and belief has been a prominent subject of public debate for many years, one that has relevance to everything from science communication, health and education to immigration and national values. Yet, sociological analysis of these subjects remains surprisingly scarce. This wide-ranging book critically reviews the ways in which religious and non-religious belief systems interact with scientific theories and practices. Contributors explore how, for some secularists, ‘science’ forms an important part of social identity. Others examine how many contemporary religious movements justify their beliefs by making a claim upon science. Moving beyond the traditional focus on the United States, the book shows how debates about science and belief are firmly embedded in political conflict, class, community and culture.