The time seems ripe for a critical compendium of that segment of the
biological universe we call viruses. Virology, as a science, having
passed only recently through its descriptive phase of naming and num-
bering, has probably reached that stage at which relatively few new-
truly new-viruses will be discovered. Triggered by the intellectual
probes and techniques of molecular biology, genetics, biochemical
cytology, and high-resolution microscopy and spectroscopy, the field has
experienced a genuine information explosion. Few serious attempts have
been made to chronicle these events. This comprehensive series, which
will comprise some 6000 pages in a total of about 22 volumes, represents
a commitment by a large group of active investigators to analyze,
digest, and expostulate on the great mass of data relating to viruses,
much of which is now amorphous and disjointed, and scattered throughout
a wide literature. In this way, we hope to place the entire field in
perspective, and to develop an invaluable reference and sourcebook for
researchers and students at all levels. This series is designed as a
continuum that can be entered anywhere, but which also provides a
logical progression of developing facts and integrated concepts.