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 invalu- able 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.