1584 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL, VOL. 51, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 2006
Book Reviews
A Note to our Readers
THE July issue of the TRANSACTIONS featured a contribution by Jan Willems which is not typical in formatand scope for pieces usually found in the Book Review section. It exceeds the normal length of reviews
by quite a margin, and in addition to the usual discussion of the book’s contents, it contains a substantial
amount of Willems’ perspectives on the subject on hand, which is the role that thermodynamics plays in
systems theory. Since this is potentially an important topic which is not well understood by the readership
of the TRANSACTIONS, the Past Associate Editor for Book Reviews, in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief
and the current Associate Editor for Book Reviews, gave Willems a great deal of latitude in the preparation
of his piece. As is the case with all items that appear in the Book Review section of the TRANSACTIONS, his
contribution did not undergo a formal review process.
The appearance of Willems’ contribution does not signal any changes in the policies of the IEEE
TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL. Thus, the selection of books to be reviewed is made by the
Associate Editor for Book Reviews, as is the selection of reviewers (of course, suggestions and inputs by
the readership are always welcome). The reviews do not undergo a formal review process, and are usually
evaluated only by the Associate Editor. In addition to giving a discussion of the contents of a book, the
reviewer, who is chosen because of his/her expertise, is asked to provide a perspective on the subject at
hand and discuss how the book under review fits in with the existing literature. The length of book reviews
is typically two journal pages.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the privilege of serving over the past three
years as the Associate Editor for Book Reviews of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL.
Anthony N. Michel
Univ. of Notre Dame
amichel@nd.edu
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAC.2006.883814
0018-9286/$20.00 © 2006 IEEE