This book makes good background reading for much of modern magnetospheric physics. Its origin was a Festspiel for Professor Jim Dungey, former professor in the Physics Department at Imperial College on the occasion of his 90th birthday, 30 January 2013. Remarkably, although he retired 30 years ago, his pioneering and, often, maverick work in the 50’s through to the 70’s on solar terrestrial physics is probably more widely appreciated today than when he retired. Dungey was a theoretical plasma physicist. The book covers how his reconnection model of the magnetosphere evolved to become the standard model of solar-terrestrial coupling. Dungey’s open magnetosphere model now underpins a holistic picture explaining not only the magnetic and plasma structure of the magnetosphere, but also its dynamics which can be monitored in real time. The book also shows how modern day simulation of solar terrestrial coupling can reproduce the real time evolution of the solar terrestrial system in ways undreamt of in 1961 when Dungey’s epoch-making paper was published. Further contributions on current Earth magnetosphere research and space plasma physics included in this book show how Dungey’s basic ideas have remained explanative 50 years on. But the Festspiel also introduced some advances that possibly Dungey had not foreseen. One of the contributions presented in this book is on the variety of magnetospheres of the solar system which have been seen directly during the space age, discussing the variations in spatial scale and reconnection time scale and comparing them in respect of Earth, Mercury, the giant planets as well as Ganymede.

This book makes good background reading for much of modern magnetospheric physics. Its origin was a Festspiel for Professor Jim Dungey, former professor in the Physics Department at Imperial College on the occasion of his 90th birthday, 30 January 2013. Remarkably, although he retired 30 years ago, his pioneering and, often, maverick work in the 50's through to the 70's on solar terrestrial physics is probably more widely appreciated today than when he retired. Dungey was a theoretical plasma physicist. The book covers how his reconnection model of the magnetosphere evolved to become the standard model of solar-terrestrial coupling. Dungey's open magnetosphere model now underpins a holistic picture explaining not only the magnetic and plasma structure of the magnetosphere, but also its dynamics which can be monitored in real time. The book also shows how modern day simulation of solar terrestrial coupling can reproduce the real time evolution of the solar terrestrial system in ways undreamt of in 1961 when Dungey's epoch-making paper was published. Further contributions on current Earth magnetosphere research and space plasma physics included in this book show how Dungey's basic ideas have remained explanative 50 years on. But the Festspiel also introduced some advances that possibly Dungey had not foreseen. One of the contributions presented in this book is on the variety of magnetospheres of the solar system which have been seen directly during the space age, discussing the variations in spatial scale and reconnection time scale and comparing them in respect of Earth, Mercury, the giant planets as well as Ganymede.

Established in the early seventeenth century following a bequest to the university by Sir William Sedley, Oxford's Sedleian Professorship of Natural Philosophy is one of the university's oldest professorships. In common with other such positions established around this time, such as the Savilian Professorships of Geometry and Astronomy, for example, its purpose was to provide centrally organised lectures on a specific subject. While the Professorship is now a high-profile research post in applied mathematics, it has previously been held by physicians, an astronomer, and several people in the eighteenth century whose credentials in natural philosophy are much less clear. This edited volume traces the varied history of the chair through the first four centuries of its existence, combining specialised contributions from historians of medicine, of science, of mathematics, and of universities, together with personal reminiscences of some of the more recent holders of the post.

This book features several of the significant scientific debates and controversies that helped develop space science in the early space era. The debates led to significant new understandings of the constituents and processes occurring beyond Earth’s atmosphere, and often opened new research directions. Scientific speculations with their resultant debates have played an important role in the development and furthering of research in general. The book thus has broad intellectual importance in illustrating how science advances. The book includes debates in the subject areas of heliophysics (physics in the cosmic region that covers particles and magnetic fields flowing from the Sun), Earth’s moon, solar system asteroids and comets, and the origin of cosmic gamma-ray bursts. A final chapter describes two important and surprising early scientific discoveries that involved no debates. The target audience for this book includes (a) active and retired space scientists, (b) space enthusiasts, and (c) students as supplemental (or even prime) reading in an introductory astronomy and/or space science course. The topics of the debates and controversies, their resolutions, and their pointing to further research and understanding of nature are of both historical and contemporary interest, appeal, and value.

Überblick über den aktuellen Wissensstand und künftige Forschungsrichtungen in der Magnetosphärenphysik In den sechs Jahrzehnten seit der Einführung des Begriffs ?Magnetosphäre? sind über den magnetisierten Raum, der jeden Körper in unserem Sonnensystem umgibt, viele Theorien entstanden und viele Erkenntnisse gewonnen worden. Jede Magnetosphäre ist einzigartig und verhält sich doch entsprechend den universellen physikalischen Vorgängen. Der Band ?Magnetospheres in the Solar System? enthält Beiträge von Experten für Experimentalphysik, theoretische Physik und numerische Modellierung, die einen Überblick über verschiedene Magnetosphären vermitteln, von der winzigen Magnetosphäre des Merkur bis zu den gewaltigen planetarischen Magnetosphären von Jupiter und Saturn. Das Werk bietet insbesondere: * Einen kompakten Überblick über die Geschichte der Magnetosphäre, ihre Grundsätze und Gleichungen * Eine Zusammenfassung der grundlegenden Prozesse in der Magnetospährenphysik * Instrumente und Techniken zur Untersuchung von Prozessen in der Magnetosphäre * Eine besondere Schwerpunktsetzung auf die Magnetosphäre der Erde und ihre Dynamik * Eine Darstellung der planetaren Magnetfelder und Magnetosphären im gesamten Sonnensystem * Eine Definition der künftigen Forschungsrichtungen in der Magnetosphärenphysik Die Amerikanische Geophysikalische Vereinigung fördert die wissenschaftliche Erforschung der Erde und des Weltraums zum Wohle der Menschheit. In ihren Publikationen werden wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse veröffentlicht, die Forschern, Studenten und Fachkräften zur Verfügung stehen.

This book presents recent advances in the physics of magnetic reconnection, investigated via both in situ spacecraft observations and fully kinetic numerical simulations. Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process in plasma physics during which the topological reconfiguration of the magnetic field leads to energy conversion and particle energization. The book focuses on the physics of the electron diffusion region (EDR), a crucial region where the electrons are decoupled from the magnetic field and efficiently accelerated by the electric field. By using recent, high-resolution measurements provided by NASA’s Magnetospheric MultiScale Mission (MMS), the book investigates the structure of the EDR at the Earth’s magnetopause. The presented analysis provides evidence for an inhomogeneous and patchy EDR structure. The structure of the EDR appears to be more complex than the in laminar picture suggested by previous observations and simulations. Then, electrons dynamics in the EDR is studied using a novel, fully kinetic Eulerian Vlasov–Darwin model that has been implemented in the Vlasov–DArwin numerical code (ViDA), explained in detail in the book. Lastly, the book covers the testing of this new code, and investigates the contributions of the different terms in the generalized Ohm’s law within the EDR, highlighting the role of the electron inertia term.