The book Plasma Kinetics in Atmospheric Gases isa worthwhile contribution to the basic phenomena in nitrogen,oxygen and other atmospheric gases. It contains basicintroductory chapters on relaxation in translational, rotational(short) and vibrational (extensive) distribution and on thephysics of electron excitation and electron distributionfunctions. In the latter, electron beam excitation (i.e. highelectron energies) are included. In the following chapters, muchdetail follows on spectroscopic constants of various molecules,molecular fragments and ions, on transport coefficients such asdiffusion coefficients, relaxation times and rates. The transferbetween translational energies and rotational and vibrationalenergies are treated in this context. Many (electron) excitationrates, electronic lifetimes and rates for chemical reactions formolecules, fragments and ions are given. The background part ofthe book is completed with an introductory chapter on wallreactions and accommodation coefficients. In this way anenormous wealth of data for nitrogen-, oxygen- andhydrogen-containing molecules can be found in this book.The book continues with the discussion of discharge physics inpure nitrogen and oxygen, and in mixtures. Some examples aregiven of applications, of which cleaning of atmospheric gasesis, in my view, one of the most important. The many processeswhich play a role in the ionosphere are another importantexample of the application of the basic material for nitrogen,oxygen and other molecules. The kinetics which play a role inre-entry problems, and which have a limiting effect on the heatflux, are another example of the application of the plasmachemistry of nitrogen and oxygen gases. In this context fitsalso a short treatment of acoustic and shock waves, with whichthe book closes.The structure of the book is that of separate chapters which arein a logical order and follow naturally from the preceding ones.The chapters are separate in the sense that there are not manycross-references between them and all contain their ownreference lists. Most of the reference lists (but not all) areextensive and contain recent references. A particular value ofthe book is the coverage of Russian references. However, Imissed in several chapters some references as, for example, arecent book by Ricard on a related subject and otherpublications of, for example, French and Japanese groups whichwork on N2 and O2 discharges. This means also that somerates are given without mention of the discussion on them.Nevertheless, in my view this is a very useful book and I willuse it extensively. The physics and chemistry of nitrogen- andoxygen-containing plasmas present a great challenge, and much isstill unknown and not fully understood, in particular also incombination with surface processes. In this research the bookwill prove to be a valuable contribution.Professor D C Schram Department of Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven