Star clusters are important to many areas of astronomy, and as the basic building blocks of galaxies, they can be used as key diagnostic tools within a wide range of disciplines in astrophysics. Star cluster populations are powerful tracers of the formation, assembly and evolutionary history of their parent galaxies. Although their importance has been recognised for decades, only in recent years has this area seen a major investment in time and effort. IAU Symposium 266 consolidates the expertise of leading researchers from a variety of topical subfields in astrophysics, to provide a comprehensive presentation of cutting-edge developments in theory, observations and simulations of star clusters and star cluster systems across a range of sizes and epochs. This volume gives an account of this forefront research, answering fundamental questions that will improve our understanding of numerous related issues and show how this field will take its next major step forward.

The scope of the book is to give an overview of the history of astroparticle physics, starting with the discovery of cosmic rays (Victor Hess, 1912) and its background (X-ray, radioactivity). The book focusses on the ways in which physics changes in the course of this history. The following changes run parallel, overlap, and/or interact: - Discovery of effects like X-rays, radioactivity, cosmic rays, new particles but also progress through non-discoveries (monopoles) etc. - The change of the description of nature in physics, as consequence of new theoretical questions at the beginning of the 20th century, giving rise to quantum physics, relativity, etc. - The change of experimental methods, cooperations, disciplinary divisions. With regard to the latter change, a main topic of the book is to make the specific multi-diciplinary features of astroparticle physics clear.