Here is both a textbook for beginners and a handbook for specialists in plasma physics and gaseous electronics. The book contains much useful data: results of experiments and calculations, and reference data. It provides estimates of typical parameters and formulas in forms suitable for computations. Gas discharges of all important types are discussed: breakdown, glow, arc, spark and corona at radio frequency, microwave and optical frequences. The generation of plasma, and its application to high power gas lasers are treated in detail.

1. Introduction.- 2. Drift, Energy and Diffusion of Charged Particles in Constant Fields.- 3. Interaction of Electrons in an Ionized Gas with Oscillating Electric Field and Electromagnetic Waves.- 4. Production and Decay of Charged Particles.- 5. Kinetic Equation for Electrons in a Weakly Ionized Gas Placed in an Electric Field.- 6. Electric Probes.- 7. Breakdown of Gases in Fields of Various Frequency Ranges.- 8. Stable Glow Discharge.- 9. Glow Discharge Instabilities and Their Consequences.- 10. Arc Discharge.- 11. Suslainment and Production of Equilibrium Plasma by Fields in Various Frequency Ranges.- 12. Spark and Corona Discharges.- 13. Capacitively Coupled Radio-Frequency Discharge.- 14. Discharges in High-Power CW CO2 Lasers.- References.