WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Association of American Publishers today awarded its prize for the best professional and scholarly book of 1998 in physics and astronomy to "New Perspectives on the Earth's Magnetotail," published by the American Geophysical Union. The award was made at the annual meeting of AAP's Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division here.
Earth's magnetotail serves as the reservoir of energy that produces a wide variety of phenomena in the magnetosphere. The interaction of the magnetotail with the solar wind provides virtually all of the energy to drive auroral and geomagnetic processes. "New Perspectives on the Earth's Magnetotail" provides first-hand information on the generation mechanisms for energetic particles. By revealing many of the basic properties of the plasma that fills the universe from the solar system to distant galaxies, it provides a basis for understanding cosmic processes.
The award winning volume was edited by Atsuhiro Nishida of the Institute of Space and Astronomical Science in Kanagawa, Japan; Daniel N. Baker of the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado; and Stanley W.H. Cowley of the University of Leicester in Leicester, United Kingdom. It is number 105 in AGU's Geophysical Monograph Series. [ISBN 0-87590-088-7]