The optoacoustic method has by now an almost one-centurY-long history of
appl ication in spectroscopy, but it was only with the advent of the
laser that it became a convenient and effective method among the vast
family of spectroscopy techniques. The great variety of these techniques
is capable of tackling most diversified tasks, such as the achievement
of a high sensitiv- ity and a high spectral or temporal resolution. The
optoacoustic method is one of the simplest and most versatile ways to
attain a high sensitivity for both gaseous and condensed media. It is
precisely for this reason that the method has found wide use, and that
we have decided to publish a mono- graph reviewing the information on
this method available in the literature and gathered by us at the
Institute of Spectroscopy during the past few years. We hope that such a
systematic exposition of the material scattered throughout numerous
scientific journals will be of use to many potential readers. The reader
will undoubtedly notice the absence in our monograph of references to
some recent works, but unfortunately, this is inevitable when the
translation and publication of a book in a foreign language takes sev-
eral years. Nevertheless, we tried our best to cover the entire field
from the material available to us, but unfortunately, some recent
publications might be missing due to the time lag for the translation
and publication in a language foreign to us.