Book excerpt: Gaseous Dielectrics III is a collection of papers presented at the Third International Symposium on Gaseous Dielectrics, held in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 7-11, 1982. This book is divided into 12 chapters, and begins with the elastic scattering of electrons in gases, particularly the measurements of differential cross sections at low energies for electrons in electron-attaching gases. The next chapters deal with the basic mechanism of gaseous dielectrics, particularly the spark formation, corona attenuation and distortion, and examples of gaseous dielectric systems. These topics are followed by discussions on the practical problems of impulse breakdown, as well as the influence of gas pressure, gap distance, field distribution, and overvoltage on the formative time lag for approximately uniform field distribution. Other chapters examine the concept of surface flashover and the decomposition, aging, and bioenvironmental effects of gaseous dielectrics. The final chapters look into their analysis, gas-insulated equipment, and the properties of hexafluorosulfide. This book will prove useful to basic scientists, engineers, and users of gaseous dielectrics.