Glasses and Grains

This tenth book in the Poincar´e Seminar Series describes recent developments in the statistical physics of two related but still poorly understood topics ' glasses, especially the glass transition, and the statics and dynamics of granular systems. This field has emerged as one of the most challenging frontiers of statistical physics in the last two decades, and is notable for its very active interchange between experiment, theory, and numerical studies. Both, the theoretical and experimental aspects are covered, and particular care is devoted to the pedagogical nature of the presentations. The book is directed towards a large audience of physicists and mathematicians.