We tried to achieve this goal during a third-year space plasma physics course, which we gave regularly at the University of Munich since 1988 for undergraduate and graduate students of geophysics, who had an average knowledge of fluid dynamics and electromagnetism. This textbook collects and expands lecture notes from these two-semester courses. However, the first part can also be used for a one-semester undergraduate course and research scientists may find the later chapters of the second part helpful. The book is written in a self-contained way and most of the material is presented including the basic steps of derivation so that the reader can follow without need to consult original sources. Some of the more involved mathematical derivations are given in the Appendix.
Special emphasis is placed on providing instructive figures.
The first five chapters provide an introduction into space physics, based on a mixture of simple theory and a description of the wealth of space plasma phenomena. A concise description of the Earth's plasma environment is followed by a derivation of single particle motion in electromagnetic fields, adiabatic invariants, and applications to the Earth's magnetosphere and ring current. Then the origin and effects of collisions and conductivities and the formation of the ionosphere are discussed. Ohm's law and the frozen-in concept are introduced on a somewhat heuristic basis. The second part of the book presents a more rigorous theoretical foundation of space plasma physics, yet still contains many applications to space physics.