Reviewer:Alexei Vitukhnovsky
Head of Vavilov Luminescence Department
Lebedev Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences.
Moscow 119991 Russia

In the frame of Frontier Science Research Conferences-F S R C the meeting entitled "Luminescent Materials-2002" took place in La Jolla, California and was organized by La Jolla International School of Science and The Institute for Advanced Physics Studies, divisions of the Stefan University. About twenty presentations from different countries covered practically all hot areas of the modern luminescence.

The advantages of material science and fundamental physics were demonstrated by various techniques and with different organic, inorganic and hybrid substances. Some theoretical approaches were demonstrated in connection with luminescent properties of systems.

Few reports in the book (Dr.E.Antic-Fidancev, Dr.P.Dorenbos, Dr.A.Florez , Dr.D.Jaque and Dr.Morita) were devoted by high luminescent materials based on lanthanides. The new developments in Ln3+ doped laser give a possibility to spread the range of laser application from the UV to the IR. Absorption/emission lines of an isostructural family exhibit a linear relation with ionic radii of the Ln3+ ions along the lanthanide series. On the basis of the evolution of Stark components of some crystal field levels the phase existence limit is demonstrated. The preparation and photoluminescence of rare earth complexes embedded in xerogel

Participants of the Conference paid a strong attention to inorganic nanostructures (Dr. L.Carlos, Dr.A.Ivanov, Dr.K.Hino) as well as organic ones (Dr.P.Reineker, Dr.A.Vitukhnovsky). There is growing interest in the full color emitting materials that combine good mechanical, thermal and chemical stability in air with high room temperature emission quantum yield. From this aspect, the main interest of the organic/inorganic hybrid concept basically derives from possibility of tailoring the properties of novel multifunctional advanced materials through the combination at the nanosize level of the organic and inorganic components in a single material. Review of resent results on the emission properties of stable sol-gel derived nanohybrids and lanthanide-based di-uresil nanocomposites is presented. The excellent report about theory of the quantum dots interfaces and quasi-two dimensional optics of the semiconductor nanostructures was done by Dr.A.Ivanov.

The non-adiabatic treatment of optical properties of quantum dots proposed in Devreese's presentation to provide an explanation for remarkably high intensity of phonon satellities observed in the photoluminescence and Raman spectra of quantum-dot structures. Minami et al present the experimental result showing that the spectral width of optical transitions, especially of exciton transition, is narrow enough in GaAs quantum dots, because of the phonon bottleneck effect, and the coherence created by laser light maintains ~ 1ns. Quantum interference between continua and a discrete level embedded in the former gives rise to a pronounced asymmetric spectral profile having a peak-and-dip structure know as a Fano resonance. This phenomenon is investigated by Dr.Hino. The new theoretical approaches show generation of quite rich fine-structures of Fano resonance states ascribable to VB mixing as well as Coulomb coupling.

Two presentations are connected with organic nanoobjects - dendrimers. Dendrimers are new class of engineered macromolecules showing a branching pattern on a nanometer scale. Reineker with coauthors focused on optical absorption and energy transfer of dendrimers taking into account vibrational degrees of freedom. They applied the Frenkel exciton model and describe the dephasing according to Haken, Strobl and Reineker theory to the three lowest dendrimer D4, D10 and D22. Vitukhnovsky gave the description of experimental results for exciton relaxation in J-aggregates of thiacarbocyanine dyes (THIATS and TDC) and energy transfer from multiple the dendrimer peripheries to lanthanide ions used as dendrimer core.

Some other aspects of luminescent materials were represented on Conference: new materials for medical applications, doped insulators and electron processes inside them, application of surface plasmon excitation of photofunctional molecules on gold surface and many others topics.

We believe that this type of meetings are fruitful and have some advantages against traditional conferences.

An incredible read! Weckmueller and Albert give us a beautiful translation of Stephan's powerful story.

This book comes along rather cautiously and quite drily. It is a work of scholarship, not one for the huge audiences. For me, having read most of Stefan Heym's novels and essays in German, (not really realizing that he wrote all of his books in English first) it was a surprise to me to learn that a book about him should be published in English.

Well, now it is, and it is a work well worth mentioning. The author, Peter Hutchinson, covers all the aspects worth knowing about Stefan Heym, connects Heym's life to his writings, adds reality to Heym's relations to democracy, the Nazis (and the pre-Nazis), the workers' movement, Communism, Stalinism, the US military, the two Germanies.

Heym was not the one to compromize. He had his ideals, and he followed them. Even after the re-unification of Germany in 1889 he asked his questions.

Peter Hutchinson managed to describe Heym's life, always connecting it to Heym's works, making his book a source of information about German-German relationship.

Well worth reading. For scholars of Heym: the bibliography is a real treasure.

I was 18 years old when I first discovered Stefan Zweig. At that time, I read his famous story "The Royal Game" in which a man is imprisoned and repeatedly interrogated by the Nazis. Before his solitary confinement can drive him utterly mad he steals a book about chess from the pocket of coat hanging in the anteroom where he is waiting for another cross-examination. At first the game keeps his mind occupied but in the end this playing against himself causes him to fall victim to schizophrenia. After he is eventually released from prison he is confronted with chess again on a ship to brazil. The schizophrenia prevailed over him again. I was so impressed by this story that I began to read more and more of Zweig's work: "The Invisible Collection", "The Confusion of Sentiments", "The Burning Secret", "Letter from an Unknown Woman" to mention but a few, as well as some biographical studies about him. But there always remained a certain lingering sense of uncertainty in my relationship to his works since I was not convinced that his fiction was indeed serious literature as opposed to mere light reading. His stories were so well structured and his statements were so clear that there seemed to be little that required critical interpretation. This confusion on my part made me so doubtful that I had no answer for those people who passed final judgement on him. Shortly before last Christmas I received a package from a friend who is likewise an admirer of Zweig. The package contained two books, one book was about the correspondence between Zweig and Heinrich Meyer-Benfey, the other volume was "Stefan Zweig. Exil und Suche nach dem Weltfrieden". The latter discussed from various points of view his exile and his search for a peaceful life in Europe in the middle of the 20th century. Zweig had always striven to be a mediator between the nations and cultures but after 1933 life in his native Austria became all but impossible for him, both as a Jew and as an author. He fled all around the globe and never found the wished freedom and peace. At least he came unstuck in Brazil where he committed suicide with his second wife Lotte in 1942. Fifty years later, in 1992, an international Stefan Zweig congress was arranged in Salzburg (Austria) where he had lived for the 15 years preceding his flight from his native land. The basic theme of this congress was Zweig's attitude toward war, his efforts for a peaceful Europe and his difficult last years in exile up to his suicide in Brazil. Twenty-two experts presented papers at this conference, which lectures (all in German except for three in English) are combined in this volume, in addition to a few articles which were solicited later. In one of these essays I found - for the first time in a book about Zweig - an article which dealt specifically with my problem concerning the literary merit of Zweig's work and my fear that his stories are not of an outstanding quality because his works does not seem to be any special challenge to philologists and literary critics. This very concern formed the central focus of the essay by Volker Michels entitled "Im Unrecht nicht selber ungerecht werden! Stefan Zweig, ein Autor für morgen in der Welt von heute und gestern". Michels believes that Zweig's popularity, like that of Hermann Hesse, is not very high among professional philologists because the works of these authors are, on the surface at least, far too clear and direct and thus obviously less intellectual. According to Michels, such interpreters prefer by far to have that which is simple presented in a highly complicated manner rather than to have the complicated described in simple terms, for then it is the brilliance of their erudition which decodes the underlying messages and toward which the attention of the literary public is directed. Zweig's works do have other intentions since they seek to involve the cooperation of their readers who are to draw their own conclusions from the text themselves, which texts are based on a form of self-criticism rather than an adverse social critique. Michels' words were exactly what I needed at the time. My certainty has grown since then. When I am confronted by a sceptic today, I answer what Michels wrote in his impressive essay: "Stefan Zweig is indeed easy to read but very difficult to live."

Miriam Hoffmann, mh755373@aol.com

My interest in Jewish history was borne from my love of the Catskills in New York. Having grown up in a Jewish community provided me with a background that prompted many questions for which I never quite found answers. As a young person my favorite comedians were all Jewish-their sense of humor and timing was uncomparable. I could laugh and cry at the same time and it felt good. Upon venturing into the local library in my town upstate in the quest for answers to the whys and wherefores of the names around the Catskills and the pockets of Hasidic communities around my little town, I spotted Stefan Kanfer's hardbound book. A quick glance at the title and the jacket was all I needed to decide this was must reading. From the first few pages my fascination began with the accounts of the immigrants at the turn of the century from Russia settling in New York City and their reasons for looking for 'a land flowing with milk and honey'; their determination to make a living as peddlars of assorted wares; their 'at odds' relationship with other incoming Jewish immigrants; the origin of many of the words we use today; the notoriety of the little towns along Route 17 and the 'not-so-nice' goings on; the rise of the empires of the many Catskill hotels that started out as places for immigrants seeking a 'cure' from TB; the true (and perhaps unknown to many) story of the Grossinger family and others; how many famous comedians got their start in these hotels, (Daniel David Kaminsky for one) and learning the real names of these men and women was a pleasant surprise; and, finally, the sad decline of the summer exodus to the catskills by the succeeding generations as times changed. I would venture to say that the Catskills were "made" by these Jewish immigrants and the knowledge I gained from this book was worth its weight in gold. I cannot imagine it absent from my bookshelf and know that is truly one of the finest books I have ever read. This is a 'must read' publication for any Catskill dweller. Thank you Mr. Kanfer.

This book is very innovative & fun to look at. Describes many different types, easy to build & unique structures from all over the world that have been used in ancient times to more recent times. Gives you some plans & ideas that are usable. Cool majestic purple graphics & purple ink!

This is a complete review of almost all syndromes affecting the face, with complete information about the most important conditions and very good references until june 2001. Congratulations to the authors for their great effort to put together a lot of information very useful to phisicians, dentists and many other specialists.

Good narrative and pictorial descriptions of how the measuring of time evolved from hunter/gather time, to present day digital time. The book has several projects (making a sundial, water clock) that are simple enough for any preschooler to do with adult help; older kids could easily do these on their own. There is a lot of information in this book about time measurements, but if you want a book to help your youngster learn how to tell time, seek another book.

This book was one of the best that I read - of thousands I went through as a daycare teacher. The children ages 5-9 responded enthusiastically to this profound story of how "dreams" came into the realm of human nighttime. The animal characters are plainly illustrated but have endearing facial expressions - this one is worth every penny!

If you've been looking for overall happiness, the purpose of your life, or perhaps a way of thinking where the feeling of anxiety is unnecessary, then congratulations, you've just found the book that provides the answer! A refreshing, non-dogmatic and above all a common sense way of thinking is proposed by these two authors. A little heavy going to start with, but soon you will appreciate the hypothesis being presented. It's not really a book you would read cover to cover, you are more likely to jump between different discussion areas within the book, for example love and the need for love, self identity, death, the purpose of your own life and everything you see around you. I've been 'reading' the book for over a year now and have found that not only my anxieties in life have significantly reduced, but also my overall happiness and satisfaction about my life has improved to a point where I now find life, generally very enjoyable and agreeable.

You don't actually need to purchase the book as the entire book is available, free, on the web ... . This is a sign the authors are not interested in making any money out of the ideas being presented, but would prefer the hypothesis to be discussed by everyone from all walks of life. The authors claim these big issues in life should be discussed by everyone and not left to authorities such as religious groups or science to answer and then dictate to us all.