Aerosol optics : light absorption and scattering by particles in the atmosphere Springer Praxis have a successful mini program of books on various aspects of light scattering and now have a journal Light Scattering Review under consideration proposed by Alex Kokhanovsky. The atmospheric air contains not only gases but also various types of airborne particles (known as aerosols) ranging from dust grains to microbes. These small particles influence atmospheric visibility the thermodynamics of the atmosphere and they are also of great importance in any consideration of climate change problems. Aerosols may also be repsonsible for the loss of harvest health problems among humans and ecological disasters. Therefore it is of great importance to study aerosol properties on a global scale. Such studies ultimately should be based on global observations using instruments positioned on the space platforms