The significance of the present IAU symposium, "The Large Scale Structure of the Universe", fortunately requires no elaboration by the editors. The quality of the wide range of observational and theoretical astrophysics contained in this volume speaks for itself. The published version of the proceedings contains all the contributions presented at the symposium with the exception of the introductory lecture by V. A. Ambartsumian. Contributed papers, short contributions and discussions have been included according to the recommendations of the IAU. Many people contributed to the success of the symposium. First of all, thanks are due to the USSR Academy of Sciences and to the Estonian Academy of Sciences for sponsoring this symposium in Tallinn. The efforts of Academician K. Rebane, President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, are particularly appreciated. The astronomical hosts of the symposium were the members of the W. Struve Astrophysical Observatory of Tartu who made outstanding efforts to lavish participants with Estonian hospitality which was greatly appreciated and enjoyed by them and their guests. The members of the Scientific and Local Organising Committees are listed below and we thank all of them for their contributions which were central to the success of the symposium. In addition are listed members of the Technical Organising Committee who were responsible for all details of the organisation and whose vigilance ensured that all aspects of the symposium ran smoothly and efficiently. Their contributions are all gratefully acknowledged.

Klappentext

Proceedings of IAU Symposium No. 79 held in Tallinn, Estonia, U.S.S.R., September 12-16, 1977

Inhalt
I. Galaxies in Small Groups.- The Photography of Groups of Galaxies.- Velocity Dispersion in Small Systems of Galaxies.- Optical Studies of Small Groups of Galaxies.- Nearby Small Groups of Galaxies.- Observations of high velocity HI clouds in the Local Group.- Hypergalaxies.- N-Body Simulations and the Value of ?.- The Galactic Neighbourhood.- Three dimensional analysis of groups of galaxies.- Interacting Systems.- Encounters of spherical galaxies: N-body simulations and comparison with theoretical predictions.- On the Magellanic Stream, the Mass of the Galaxy and the Age of the Universe.- II. Clusters of Galaxies.- Photoelectric surface photometry of the Coma Cluster.- Radio Properties of Abell Clusters.- Radio Observations of Clusters of Galaxies: The Tail Sources.- Extended radio emission in clusters of galaxies: recent Westerbork observations.- Clusters with extended radio emission at high frequencies.- Radio haloes around galaxies and in clusters.- X-Ray Observations of Clusters of Galaxies.- Gas in Galaxy Clusters.- Computer Simulations of Galaxy Clustering.- III. Large Scale Systems.- The Local Supercluster.- Large Scale Clustering in the Universe.- Results on the Large Scale Distribution of Extragalactic Objects Obtained by the Method of Statistical Reduction.- Has the Universe the Cell Structure?.- The Physical Properties of Large Scale Systems from Optical Observations.- The structure of the Hercules supercluster.- Observations of the large scale distribution of galaxies.- The field luminosity function and nearby groups of galaxies.- Discussion of Methods on Determining the Mean Matter Density of the Universe.- IV. Observational Evidence for Cosmological Evolution.- Quasars and Cosmological Evolution.- The Surface Density of Quasars.- The Large ScaleDistribution of Radio Sources.- Search for Primordial Perturbations of the Universe: Observations with Ratan-600 Radio Telescope.- The Quest for Fine-Scale Anisotropy in the Relict Radiation.- Cosmological Information from X-Ray Observations.- Counts of faint galaxies.- The Evolution of Galaxies: Evidence from Optical Observations.- On the Dynamical Evolution of Clusters of Galaxies.- The Epoch of Galaxy Formation.- QSO absorption lines and intergalactic hydrogen clouds.- Fluctuations of the Microwave Background Radiation.- V. The Formation of Structure in the Universe.- The Theory of the Large Scale Structure of the Universe.- The internal structure of protoclusters and the formation of galaxies.- The Whirl Theory of the Origin of Structure in the Universe.- Origin of protogalactic eddies.- Evidence for the gravitational instability picture in a dense Universe.- Primeval clusters of galaxies and the X-ray background.- Observational limits on neutral hydrogen in primordial protoclusters.- Personal ViewThe Large Scale Structure of the Universe.- Author Index.