This authoritative reference presents a comprehensive review of the evolution of fundamentals of plasma science and technology over the past five decades. One of the principal challenges of this field has been in its multidisciplinary nature requiring coverage of fundamental plasma physics in plasma generation, transport phenomena under high temperature conditions, involving momentum, heat and mass transfer, high-temperature reaction kinetics, as well as fundamentals of material science under extreme conditions. The book is structured in five distinct parts which are presented in a reader-friendly format allowing for a detailed coverage of different aspects of the science base and engineering aspects of the technology including, plasma generation, mathematical modelling, and diagnostics, and industrial applications of thermal plasma technology. This book is an essential, resource for practicing engineers, research scientists, and graduate students working in the field.

Professor Boulos is Emeritus professor at Chemical and Biotechnology Engineering Dep. of the University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada. He received his bachelor's degree in Chemical Eng. from Cairo University, Egypt 1963, Master's and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (1968 and 1972). His principal research activity has been in the area of fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer under plasma conditions, mathematical modelling and diagnostics. He has been at the University de Sherbrooke since 1973 where he was department chairman over the period (1981-1986) and founding Director of the Interuniversity Plasma Technology Research Center over the period (1985-2004). In 1990, he founded Tekna Plasma Systems Inc., a spin-off the University of Sherbrooke with the mandate of developing and promoting industrial applications of thermal plasma technology. Since January 2007 he retired from his regular faculty position to focus on running the Tekna Group which has grown to be a world leader in induction plasma technology. Over his 35 years career at the University of Sherbrooke, Professor's Boulos supervised/co-supervised 57 M.Sc. and Ph.D. students, published more than 150 papers in refereed scientific Journals, more than 200 International conference proceedings, and contributed to 35 patents and patent applications. He coauthored three textbooks in the field of thermal plasmas, 'thermal plasma fundamentals and applications, by Boulos, Fauchais and Pfender, Plenum press (1994), Thermal Spray Fundamentals, from Powder to part, 1^st Ed. by Fauchais, Heberlein and Boulos, Springer (2014), and 2^nd Ed. by Boulos, Fauchais and Heberlein, Springer (2021). He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and has been the recipient of numerous distinctions including TSS Hall of Fame in (2003), the "Lieonel Boulet" Prix du Québec in November (2007), the highest scientific distention in Québec, for his contribution to scientific and economic development in Québec and in (2015) of The Plasma Chemistry Award' the highest recognition awarded by the International Plasma Chemistry Society for lifetime achievements in the field of Plasma Chemistry.

Pierre Fauchais is emeritus professor at University of Limoges, France. He received at the University of Poitiers, France, his Diplomas both in Engineering: Aeronautics and related Thermal Problems in Physics (1961), his Ph.D. in Mechanics and Aeronautics (1963), and his State Thesis in Physics (1968). From 1961 to 1968 he was Researcher at National Research Centre (CNRS) at ENSMA Poitiers, and in (1968) became Assistant Professor at the University of Limoges, then Full Professor in (1973), and exceptional Professor in (1988). His work was devoted to thermodynamic and transport properties of thermal plasmas, arc technology, plasma diagnostics (temperatures and velocities), sensors for particles in flight and at impact (laser anemometry, fast pyrometers, and imaging), plasma spraying, and production of finely or nanostructured coatings. He has about 400 papers published 280 peer-reviewed international conference papers, 430 international conference papers, and 8 patents. He contributed to, 9 book-chapters, and three textbooks, thermal plasma fundamentals and applications, by Boulos, Fauchais and Pfender, Plenum press (1994), Thermal Spray Fundamentals, from Powder to part, 1^st Ed. by Fauchais, Heberlein and Boulos, Springer (2014), and 2^nd Ed. by Boulos, Fauchais and Heberlein, Springer (2021).Professor Fauchais has given 52 plenary lectures and 82 topical lectures at international meetings. He was inducted to the ASM-TSS Hall of Fame in (1998) and received the Plasma Chemistry Society award in (2001) and 34 best paper awards. He is fellow ASM since 2002. He has directed or codirected 92 Ph.D. thesis and 15 State thesis or equivalent (HDR). Besides regular teaching, he has given and organized numerous continuing education short courses in conjunction with international conferences and specialized courses adapted to industrial needs.

Professor Emil Pfender was Emeritus Professor at the University of Minnesota, who passed away on January 28^th. (2016) after a brief illness. Professor Pfender was a leading member of our thermal Plasma community and contributed immensely to the understanding of the scientific foundations of this rapidly developing field. He earned his Diploma in Physics in (1953), and Dr. Ing. in Electrical Engineering in (1959), both from the Technical University of Stuttgart, where he became Chief Assistant and Lecturer at the Institute for Gaseous Electronics. In (1961) he spent a year as Visiting Scientist at the Plasma Physics Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratories at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. In (1964) Professor Pfender joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota as Associate Professor and became Professor in (1967). Under his leadership the High Temperature Plasma Laboratory which he founded, and director grew to become one of the world leading centers in the field of plasma science and technology. In (1980), together with Professor Stan Veprek, then of the University of Zürich, Professor Pfender co-founded the journal Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing and served for twenty-five years as its co-Editor-in-Chief. The journal, which is presently in its 41^st. year, published by Springer, remains one of the most important in its field.

Professor Pfender became a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in (1981) and member of the US National Academy of Engineering in (1986). He was recipient of many well-deserved honors from leading scientific societies, including the Alexander von Humboldt Award of the German Government (1978), the Gold Honorary F. Krizik Medal for Merit in the Field of Technical Sciences of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and an Honorary Doctorate from the Technical University of Ilmenau, Germany. The University of Minnesota awarded Professor Pfender a Distinguished Alumni Professorship in (1989) and the Ernst Eckert Professorship in (1994). In (1995) he was the recipient of the first 'Plasma Chemistry Award' the highest recognition awarded by the International Plasma Chemistry Society for lifetime achievements in the field of Plasma Chemistry. Among his long list of scientific publications, he authored/coauthored numerous chapters for textbooks and a textbook 'thermal plasma fundamentals and applications, by Boulos, Fauchais and Pfender, Plenum press (1994). He formally retired from the University in (2000), but as an Emeritus Professor he remained up to the time of his death an active member of the Graduate Faculty in Mechanical Engineering, co-advising several Ph.D. students and actively contributed to this handbook.