STOCHASTIC PHYSICS AND CLIMATE MODELLING,

aware that the solutions to nonlinear deterministic-like equa-tions governing weather evolution are most probably chaotic in space and time: a small scale truncation can in a finite time generate large-scale errors. This behaviour has been conjec-tured precisely, for the prototypical Navier-Stokes equations and is subject to a million-dollar Clay Mathematics Millen-nium prize. Without awaiting this mathematical conclusion, statistical theories of turbulence and corresponding stochas-tic models are already in constant use in a wide range of fluid mechanics applications. The book “Stochastic Physics and Climate Modelling” edited by Palmer and Williams (2010) pushes forward these ideas in an original manner to the even more challenging and wider theme of climate change, which has an estimated worth of one trillion dollars (Stern, 2006), as recalled by the editors in their breathtaking preface. This book indeed promotes the use of stochastic, or random, processes to understand, model and predict our climate system, and in particular to resolve the presently considerable uncertainty in global and regional climate predictions. This book corresponds to the careful updating and en-larging (seven new chapters have been added to the origi-nal eleven ones) of a thematic issue of the Royal Society introduced by Palmer and Williams (2008). This enables the book to cover a wide range of topics: low dimensional stochastic models and model reduction procedures; stochas-tic modelling of turbulence, diffusion and climate variabil-ity; stochastic differential equations driven by noise and their predictability; random dynamical systems and stochastic bi-furcations; multiscale processes; stochastic parametrizations. Correspondence to: D. Schertze