The second international conference on the subject of Picosecond Phenomena was held June 18-20, 1980, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Scientists from a broad range of disciplines were brought together to discuss their common interest in ultrafast processes. This meeting was organized as a Topical Meeting of the Optical Society of America and was attended by 250 partici pants. The conference reviewed the latest advances in the experimental and theo retical understanding of phenomena that occur on a picosecond timescale. New discoveries in electronics, chemical dynamics, solid state physics, and pico second optics highlighted the interactions between chemists, physicists, biologists, and engineers who attended the conference. The enthusia m gener ated by the rapid progress in the last two years and the pleasant Cape Cod weather resulted in a successful and enjoyable conference. The conference owes a special thanks to Dr. Jarus Quinn, Joan Connon, and their colleagues at the Optical Society of America for doing a superb job in implementing the meeting arrangements and to the program committee for the selection and organization of the technical presentations. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, the u.S. Army Research Office, and the AFOSR."

This second edition in paperback provides an up-to-date review of the state of the art in different generation processes for ultrashort laser pulses. Inaddition, extensive applications in a wide range of fields - in physics,engineering, chemistry, and biology - are discussed: Eight chapters dealwith the following topics: -the generation of picosecond and femtosecond laser pulses -nonlinear wave interactions - new investigations in solid-state physics - recent progress in optoelectronics - advances in coherent material excitations - ultrafast vibrational lifetimes and energy redistribution in liquids - new observations of chemical reactions in the liquid state - the primary processes of important biological systems The book is essential reading for scientists and engineers who want to know what is going on in this rapidly advancing field. It should also interest graduate students and others who seek an introduction to laserpulses.

The third edition of Dye Lasers has been prepared in response to demand for an updated version of this well-known Topics volume. The classic chapters on continuous-wave dye lasers and properties of dye lasers are unchanged, but are now complemented by an additional chapter on continuous-wave dye lasers that takes account of recent advances. The chapters on principles of operation and mode-locking of dye lasers have been updated. Finally, the chapter on applications, which was originally written when a synopsis was still possible, has been eliminated completely in this edition, since nowadays dye lasers have penetrated almost all fields of science and technology and applications have become innumerable. In its place there is a new chapter on wavemeters. This book provides an excellent introduction to dye lasers and contains much useful information for scientists and engineers who deal with their applications.

The first international conference devoted to Picosecond Phenomena was held 1ay 24-26,1978 in Hilton Head, South Carolina. After more than a decade of active research, this conference brought together scientists from widely varying disciplines who shared a common interest in studying 'ultrafast processes. It was organized as a Topical Meeting of the Optical Society of America and attracted 187 registered participants. The conference reviewed current progress in experimental and theoreti- cal understanding of phenomena that occur on a picosecond timescale. A recent upsurge of interest has developed because of the sudden availability of sophisticated and more powerful techniques. Consequently, the conference attracted chemists, physicists, biologists and engineers who had the opportunity to learn of the new and significant results in rapidly ad- vancing areas. The enthusiasm of the scientists, the high quality of the research presented, and the attractive surroundings combined to produce a thoroughly successful and enjoyable conference. 1any people helped to make the conference so successful. Special thanks are due to Drs. Jarus Quinn and Jon Hagen, and their colleagues at the Optical Society of America for their vital assistance in smoothly imple- menting the meeting arrangements, and to the program committee for their advice and efforts. He gratefully acknowledge the financial support from our sponsors that allowed the conference to be more productive and more complete.

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