First-passage percolation (FPP) is a fundamental model in probability theory that has a wide range of applications to other scientific areas (growth and infection in biology, optimization in computer science, disordered media in physics), as well as other areas of mathematics, including analysis and geometry. FPP was introduced in the 1960s as a random metric space. Although it is simple to define, and despite years of work by leading researchers, many of its central problems remain unsolved. In this book, the authors describe the main results of FPP, with two purposes in mind. First, they give self-contained proofs of seminal results obtained until the 1990s on limit shapes and geodesics. Second, they discuss recent perspectives and directions including (1) tools from metric geometry, (2) applications of concentration of measure, and (3) related growth and competition models. The authors also provide a collection of old and new open questions. This book is intended as a textbook for a graduate course or as a learning tool for researchers.

Harry Kesten has had a profound influence on probability theory for over 30 years. To honour his achievements a number of prominent probabilists have written survey articles on a wide variety of active areas of contemporary probability, many of which are closely related to Kesten's work.

Most probability problems involve random variables indexed by space and/or time. These problems almost always have a version in which space and/or time are taken to be discrete. This volume deals with areas in which the discrete version is more natural than the continuous one, perhaps even the only one than can be formulated without complicated constructions and machinery. The 5 papers of this volume discuss problems in which there has been significant progress in the last few years; they are motivated by, or have been developed in parallel with, statistical physics. They include questions about asymptotic shape for stochastic growth models and for random clusters; existence, location and properties of phase transitions; speed of convergence to equilibrium in Markov chains, and in particular for Markov chains based on models with a phase transition; cut-off phenomena for random walks. The articles can be read independently of each other. Their unifying theme is that of models built on discrete spaces or graphs. Such models are often easy to formulate. Correspondingly, the book requires comparatively little previous knowledge of the machinery of probability.

This is a book guaranteed to delight the reader. It not only depicts the state of mathematics at the end of the century, but is also full of remarkable insights into its future de- velopment as we enter a new millennium. True to its title, the book extends beyond the spectrum of mathematics to in- clude contributions from other related sciences. You will enjoy reading the many stimulating contributions and gain insights into the astounding progress of mathematics and the perspectives for its future. One of the editors, Björn Eng- quist, is a world-renowned researcher in computational sci- ence and engineering. The second editor, Wilfried Schmid, is a distinguished mathematician at Harvard University. Likewi- se the authors are all foremost mathematicians and scien- tists, and their biographies and photographs appear at the end of the book. Unique in both form and content, this is a "must-read" for every mathematician and scientist and, in particular, for graduates still choosing their specialty. Limited collector's edition - an exclusive and timeless work. This special, numbered edition will be available until June 1, 2000. Firm orders only.

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These Proceedings have been assembled from papers presented at the Conference on Models of Biological Growth and Spread, held at the German Cancer Research Centre Heidelberg and at the Institute of Applied Mathematics of the University of Heidelberg, July 16-21, 1979. The main theme of the conference was the mathematical representation of biolog ical populations with an underlying spatial structure. An important feature of such populations is that they and/or their individual com ponents may interact with each other. Such interactions may be due to external disturbances, internal regulatory factors or a combination of both. Many biological phenomena and processes including embryogenesis, cell growth, chemotaxis, cell adhesion, carcinogenesis, and the spread of an epidemic or of an advantageous gene can be studied in this con text. Thus, problems of particular importance in medicine (human and veterinary), agriculture, ecology, etc. may be taken into consideration and a deeper insight gained by utilizing (more) realistic mathematical models. Since the intrinsic biological mechanisms may differ considerably from each other, a great variety of mathematical approaches, theories and techniques is required. The aims of the conference were (i) To provide an overview of the most important biological aspects. (ii) To survey and analyse possible stochastic and deterministic approaches. (iii) To encourage new research by bringing together mathematicians interested in problems of a biological nature and scientists actively engaged in developing mathematical models in biology.