Book excerpt: This invaluable book contains pedagogical articles on the dominant nonstochastic methods of microscopic many-body theories — the methods of density functional theory, coupled cluster theory, and correlated basis functions — in their widest sense. Other articles introduce students to applications of these methods in front-line research, such as Bose-Einstein condensates, the nuclear many-body problem, and the dynamics of quantum liquids. These keynote articles are supplemented by experimental reviews on intimately connected topics that are of current relevance. The book addresses the striking lack of pedagogical reference literature in the field that allows researchers to acquire the requisite physical insight and technical skills. It should, therefore, provide useful reference material for a broad range of theoretical physicists in condensed-matter and nuclear theory.