Glass is an old material widely used for many applications. Modern optical technology calls for new glasses with special properties for optical and optoelectronic devices. New glass forming systems and non-oxidic glasses have therefore been developed. F.X. Gan is head of Chinese research institutions for Optics, Laser Materials, and Optical Data Storage. Drawing from wide experience, he wrote this book based on modern quantum optical theories. His goal is to relate optical and spectroscopic properties to the composition and structure of glass forming materials. The scope and contents of the book are unique. The presentation covers many modern and important research topics.