  Quantum and thermal fluctuations of electromagnetic waves are the cornerstone
of quantum and statistical physics, and inherent to such phenomena as thermal
radiation and van der Waals forces. While the basic principles are the material
of elementary texts, recent experimental and technological advances have made
it necessary to come to terms with counterintuitive consequences of
electromagnetic fluctuations at short scales -- in the so called {\it
near-field} regime. We focus on three manifestations of such behavior: {\bf
(i)} The Stefan--Boltzmann law describes thermal radiation from macroscopic
bodies, but fails to account for magnitude, polarization and coherence of
radiation from small objects (say compared to the skin depth). {\bf (ii)} The
heat transfer between two bodies at similar close proximity is dominated by
evanescent waves, and can be several orders of magnitude larger than the
classical contribution due to propagating waves. {\bf (iii)} Casimir/van der
Waals interactions are a dominant force between objects at sub-micron
separation; the non-equilibrium analogs of this force (for objects at different
temperatures) have not been sufficiently explored (at least experimentally). To
explore these phenomena we introduce the tool of fluctuational quantum
electrodynamics (QED) originally introduced by Rytov in the 1950s. Combined
with a scattering formalism, this enables studies of heat radiation and
transfer, equilibrium and non-equilibrium forces for objects of different
material properties, shapes, separations and arrangements.
