The earth's upper atmosphere is highly dynamic, receiving strong energy inputs both from below in the form of upward propagating waves and from above in the form of electromagnetic and particle radiation from the sun and magnetosphere. Above 100 km the dynamics become increasingly influenced by factors that are of minor importance in the lower atmosphere, in particular by the long mean free paths of particles, which give rise to strong molecular diffusion effects, and by the appearance of an ionized component, which interacts dynamically with the neutral constituents. The study of upper atmospheric dynamics has been motivated by the interesting variety of theoretical problems that arise, as well as by the needs of communications and space applications and by the extensive collection of relevant data from satellites, radars, and optical and geomagnetic observatories.Susumu Kato has been one of the outstanding researchers in the field of upper atmospheric dynamics over the past 3 decades. His book treats a number of topics in areas in that field where he has made major theoretical contributions: acoustic‐gravity waves, atmospheric tides, electrodynamics, and ionospheric dynamo effects. No attempt is made to cover the entire field of upper atmospheric dynamics in this book nor to be exhaustive in the treatment of the selected areas, but the variety of topics treated is nonetheless impressive.