Overview

In the last few years the physics of turbulent plasma has undergone rapid development, beginning with the first works, in which the term "turbulence" was used in various ways, and ending with the fundamental studies which provide a thorough examina- tion of the turbulent state of plasma. In physics it is usually found that value is not so much contained in specific results for a partic- ular field as it is in the more general outlook and overall view of the problem. Occasionally the older results take on new mean- ing after the general view of things is perfected. In the case of the physics of turbulent plasma, this general picture is now com- plete, for the most part. The first review devoted to the problem of plasma turbulence was written by B. B. Kadomtsev [in "Problems in Plasma Theory," edited by M. A. Leontovich, Volume 4, Moscow, Atomizdat (1964), p. 188; English Translation: "Plasma Turbulence," Academic Press, London (1965)].