The field of statistical physics has undergone a spectacular development in recent years. The fundamentals of the subject have advanced dynamically with multidisciplinary approaches involving physicists, chemists and mathematicians. Equally spectacular has been the development of applications of statistical mechanics to shed light on a wide range of problems, many of them arising in fields quite distant from traditional physics disciplines. Recent applications range from such topics as oil recovery from porous rock to protein folding, DNA structure, morphogenesis and the cooperative behavior of living creatures. Concepts and methods of statistical physics have been applied successfully to "exotic" problems that seem to be far from physics, such as vehicular and pedestrial traffic, or economy and finance.

This book presents not only the keynote invited talks, but a number of high quality, interesting, contributed communications from senior scientists and young students active in the field. Topics covered include DNA migration, wetting, chemical waves, granular media, molecular motors, biological pattern formation and motion, as well as practical problems such as heart diagnosis, internet traffic jamming, oil recovery and econophysics.