  Currently a revolution is happening in the development of gaseous detectors
of photons and particles. Recently developed gaseous detectors with solid
photocathodes are now replacing photosensitive wire chambers, which dominated
for years in high energy and space flight experiments. We will review the main
developments in this field as well as their applications in high-energy
physics, medicine, industry and plasma diagnostics. New results on solid
photocathodes coupled with gaseous micropattern/wire detectors will also be
presented.
