"The present book is an attempt to overview some last experimental and theoretical results based on these new developments and concerning integral cross sections of electron scattering by complex atoms. The review does not include the scattering by hydrogen and helium atoms as the simple objects discussed in many publications. The presented results are based mainly on the calculations carried out by the authors during two last decades.

This defines the scope of the book, where more detailed consideration is given to the electron excitation of atoms and ions of the first and second groups of the Periodic table. The systematic calculations for excitation of few-electron multi-charged ions are also presented. These data can be widely used in the plasma applications. Where it is possible, a detailed comparison is given between the theory and experiment, with the indication of a whole range of available experimental data for a given atom. Much attention is paid to the computational aspects of scattering observables and to the analysis of the accuracy of different theoretical methods.

In this connection, several computer codes are scrutinized, with an indication of their advantages and shortcomings."--BOOK JACKET.