The emergence and spectacularly rapid evolution of the field of atomic and molecular clusters are among the most exciting developments in the recent his­ tory of natural sciences. The field of clusters expands into the traditional disci­ plines of physics, chemistry, materials science, and biology, yet in many respects it forms a cognition areaofits own. The identifying attributes ofthis area reflect the specificity ofthe objects, subjects, problems, and issues it addresses, and the concepts, methodologies, techniques, and tools it utilizes. All these ultimately relate to and are defined by a single common characteristic - the finite size of the targeted systems. Theterm "finite" represents a broad rangeofsizes- from small (afew to a few tens of atoms and molecules) to large (thousands of atoms and molecules). This varietyof si | Theory of Atomic and Molecular Clusters by Julius Jellinek, Paperback | Indigo Chapters