The first volume of the series entitled Comprehensive Virology was pub-
lished in 1974 and the last is yet to appear. We noted in 1974 that
virology as a discipline has passed through its descriptive and
phenomenological phases and was joining the molecular biology
revolution. The volumes published to date were meant to serve as an
in-depth analysis and standard reference of the evolving field of
virology. We felt that viruses as biological entities had to be
considered in the context of the broader fields of mo- lecular and
cellular biology. In fact, we felt then, and feel even more strongly
now, that viruses, being simpler biological models, could serve as
valuable probes for investigating the biology of the far more complex
host cell. During the decade-long compilation of a series of books like
Comprehensive Virology, some of the coverage will obviously not remain
up-to-date. The usual remedy to this aspect of science publishing is to
produce a second edition. However, in view of the enormous increase in
knowledge about viruses, we felt that a new approach was needed in
covering virology in the 1980s and 1990s. Thus we decided to abandon the
somewhat arbitrary subgrouping of the subject matter of Compre- hensive
Virology under the titles Reproduction, Structure and Assembly,
Regulation and Genetics, Additional Topics, and Virus-Host Interac-
tions. Instead we have organized a new series entitled The Viruses.
