A consistent, up-to-date description of the extremely manifold and varied experimental techniques which nowadays enable work with neutral particles. Th book lays the physical foundations of the various experimental techniques, which utilize methods from most fields in physics.

1. The Role of Molecular Beams in the 20th Century.- 1.1 Historical Development.- 1.2 Main Applications of Molecular Beams.- 1.3 Thermal Energy Molecular Beam Applications in other Fields.- 1.4 Fast Beam Applications.- 1.5 Examples of Molecular Beam Machines.- 2. Fundamentals of Kinetic Gas Theory.- 2.1 Ideal Gases in Thermodynamic Equilibrium.- 2.1.1 The Maxwellian Velocity Distribution.- 2.2 Quantum Statistics.- 2.3 Molecular Flow Through an Ideal Aperture.- 2.4 Molecular Flow Through Channels.- 3. Fundamental Principles of Gas Dynamics.- 3.1 Some Fundamentals of Thermodynamics.- 3.2 Governing Equations of Steady Flow.- 3.3 One-Dimensional Flow.- 3.4 Two-Dimensional Flow.- 3.5 Free-Jet Expansion.- 3.6 The Transition to Nonequilibrium Conditions.- 3.7 Internal Energy Relaxation.- 3.8 Binary Gas Mixtures.- 3.9 Condensation and Cluster Formation.- 4. Thermal Energy Molecular Beam Sources.- 4.1 Experimental Requirements.- 4.2 Gas Sources (4-600 K).- 4.3 Ovens for Gases and Solids.- 4.4 Laser Ablation.- 4.5 Sputtering Sources.- 4.6 Recirculating Sources and Sources for Special Applications.- 4.7 Sources for Beams of Radicals.- 4.8 Production of Metastable Particles.- 4.9 Rydberg Atoms.- 4.10 Pulsed Beam Sources.- 4.11 Sources of Slow and Cold Atoms.- 5. Detection Methods.- 5.1 Accumulation Detectors.- 5.2 Momentum Detectors.- 5.3 Special Vacuum Gauges.- 5.4 Surface Ionization (Langmuir-Taylor Detector).- 5.5 Field Ionization.- 5.6 Universal Molecular Beam Detector.- 5.7 Thermal Detectors.- 5.8 Detection of Metastable Particles.- 5.9 Spectroscopic Detection Methods.- References.