Lorenzo Curtis offers a new conceptual approach to atomic structure that utilizes conceptual semiclassical models to introduce empirical systematizations of measured data. These models reveal the dynamical behavior of the various interactions that specify the energies and lifetimes of complex atoms. Curtis emphasizes the historical basis of the field as well as the relationship to modern fundamental theory. He also includes many solved problems that provide connections with astrophysics, chemistry, condensed matter, and other related fields.