pbA groundbreaking textbook on twenty-first-century plasma physics and its applicationsb pKip Thorne and Roger Blandford's monumental iModern Classical Physicsi is now available in five stand-alone volumes that make ideal textbooks for individual graduate or advanced undergraduate courses on statistical physics optics elasticity and fluid dynamics plasma physics and relativity and cosmology. Each volume teaches the fundamental concepts, emphasizes modern, real-world applications, and gives students a physical and intuitive understanding of the subject. piPlasma Physics iprovides an essential introduction to the subject. A gas that is significantly ionized, usually by heating or photons, a plasma is composed of electrons and ions and sometimes has an embedded or confining magnetic field. Plasmas play a major role in many contemporary applications, phenomena, and fields, including attempts to achieve controlled thermonuclear fusion using magnetic or inertial confinement in explanations o