[en] Thermophysical properties of the pure gases helium, neon, methane and water vapor were calculated for low densities over wide temperature ranges. Statistical thermodynamics was used for the determination of the pressure virial coefficients. The kinetic theory of gases was utilized for the calculation of the transport and relaxation properties. So far kinetic theory was limited to linear molecules and has now been extended to molecules of arbitrary geometry to enable calculations on methane and water vapor. The interaction potentials, which are needed for all computations, were determined for helium, neon and methane from the supermolecular approach using quantum chemical ab initio methods. For water the interaction potentials were taken from the literature. The calculated values of the thermophysical properties for the four gases show very good agreement with the best experimental data. At very low and very high temperatures the theoretical values are more accurate than experimental data. (orig.)