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... JEAN-FRANc;OIS SARASIN (1615-1654) The last decade has seen the
publication of monographs covering most areas of solar activity: flares
(Smith and Smith, 1963), sunspots (Bray and Loughhead, 1964) and the
corona (Billings, 1966). Consequently, of all the major manifestations
of solar activity only prominences are without a comprehensive and
unified treatment in the current literature. The present book is written
in an attempt to remedy this situation, and to furnish an account of
some of the most spectacular and most beautiful aspects of solar
activity. Our ultimate aim is an understanding of the physical processes
involved. I hope that this book may provide if only a small step toward
this goal. After an historical introduction and some general definitions
Chapter I proceeds with an account of several classification schemes for
prominences. Most of the observational material is presented in Chapter
II and forms the basis on which different models of prominences are
built in Chapter III. Chapters IV and V give most of the physics of
prominences, treating, as they do, the formation and stability of these
objects. The interaction of prominences with other manifestations of
solar activity is the subject of Chapter VI, and the final Chapter VII
considers prominences in the larger context: as an integral part of the
corona.