Reprint of the original, first published in 1872. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

The activities in this book provide an introduction to the basic concepts of magnetism and electricity. Material presents magnets, circuits, and battery cells. Work is suitable for individuals, small groups, or class instruction. General background information, suggested activities, questions for discussion, and answers are included. Encourage students to keep completed pages in a folder or notebook for further reference and reviews.

This volume contains the edited lectures of the fourth Mittelwihr school on 'Magnetism and Synchrotron Radiation'. This series of events introduces graduate students and nonspecialists from related disciplines to the field of magnetism and magnetic materials with emphasis on synchrotron radiation as an experimental tool of investigation. These lecture notes present in particular the state of the art regarding the analysis of magnetic properties of new materials.

What is thermodynamics? What does statistical physics teach us? In the pages of this slim book, we confront the answers. The reader will discover that where thermodynami cs provi des a 1 arge scal e, macroscopi c theory of the ef fects of temperature on physical systems, statistical mechanics provides the microscopic analysis of these effects which, invariably, are the results of thermal disorder. A number of systems in nature undergo dramatic changes in aspect and in their properties when subjected to changes in ambient temperature or pres sure, or when electric or magnetic fields are applied. The ancients already knew that a liquid, a solid, or a gas can represent different states of the same matter. But what is meant by "state"? It is here that the systematic study of magnetic materials has provided one of the best ways of examining this question, which is one of the principal concerns of statistical physics (alias "statistical mechanics") and of modern thermodynamics.

The aim of this book is to provide both an introduction and a state-of-the-art report on research into magnetism and magnetic materials. Particular emphasis has been put on the contribution of synchrotron radiation in relevant experimental investigations. Graduate students and nonspecialists will benefit from the tutorial approach while specialists will find the latest results that round off the material presented in the lectures.