chapter 1 Introduction -- chapter 2 The Piston Problem -- chapter 3 The Blast Wave -- chapter 4 Shock Propagation Theories: Some Initial Studies -- chapter 5 Some Exact Analytic Solutions of Gasdynamic Equations Involving Shocks -- chapter 6 Converging Shock Waves -- chapter 7 Spherical Blast Waves Produced by Sudden Expansion of a High Pressure Gas -- chapter 8 Numerical Simulation of Blast Waves.