This volume gathers most of the lectures and communications presented at the meeting t held in Bordeaux from the 27th to the 29 h of September and entitled "Far from equi­ librium : instabilities and structures". This meeting is part of a series of seve­ ral other interdisciplinary conferences such as Elmau 1972, London 1974, Dortmund 1976, Elmau 1977, Tokyo 1978. The old science classification scheme proposed by Auguste Comte tends to be eve­ ry day a bit more blurred out: one gives here, if needed, one additional illustra­ tion of this trend. The three key words "far from equilibrium", "instabilities" and "structures" best illustrate the new concepts which emerge from the description of the dynamics of various systems relevant to many different research areas. Laser emission, chemical reactions, fluid motions, exhibit very particular phenomena when, under appropriate external action,they occur far from equilibrium. These proceedings include the experimental description of such phenomena as well as theoretical at­ tempts in understanding them. Most of the topics investigated here belong to the domains of physics and chemistry but one should be careful not to underestimate the underlying potential biological interest. If the study of simple systems (e. g. , described by a few variables) has been qui­ te successful for several centuries, the recent bearing of our attention on complex systems constitutes a genuine epistemological breakthrough bridging the gap which used to exist between the sciences and the humanism.

Table of Contents:
Origine et perspectives des structures dissipatives.- Dissipative Structures in Chemical Systems — Theory and Experiment.- Bifurcation Diagram of Model Chemical Reactions.- Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions and Instability Hierarchy of the Laser, an Example from Synergetics.- Mechanisms of Chemical Oscillators.- Chemical Oscillations During the Oxidative Bromination of Some Aromatic Compounds with Bromate.- Quantitative Study of a Chemical Oscillation.- Etude cinétique de la réaction de Bray.- Nonequilibrium Transitions Induced by External Noise.- Experimental Evidence of Noise Induced Transitions in an Open Chemical System.- On Measures of Stability and Relative Stability in Systems with Multiple Stationary States.- Stochastic Simulation of Chemical Systems Out of Equilibrium.- On Membrane Potentials and Their Measurements.- Measurement and Interpretation of Membrane Potentials Under Conditions Simulating the Ionic Environment of Biological Membranes.- Temporal and Special Patterns in Biochemical Systems.- Secondary Effects in Soret-Driven Instability.- Velocity Field in the Rayleigh-Benard Instability: Transitions to Turbulence.- Scaling Theory of Instability, Nonlinear Fluctuation and Formation of Macroscopic Structure.- Chaos and Strange Attractors in Chemical Kinetics.- The Multifaceted Family of the Nonlinear: Waves and Fields, Center Dynamics, Catastrophes, Rock Bands and Precipitation Patterns.- Evolution chimique loin de l’équilibre: concepts, modeles et réel.- Do Instabilities Exist in Solid-Gas Reactions?.- Thermal Properties of Oscillating Reactions: Two Examples.- Sur l’origine d’instabilités chimiques et hydrodynamiques observées à l’interface huile-eau.- Application en cinétique électrochimique des concepts d’états stationnairesmultiples et de structures dissipatives: électrocristallisation et passivation des métaux.- Conclusions and Perspectives.