The history of laser applications in medicine starts al­ In the early 1990s a concerted action program most with the invention of the laser itself. sponsored by the European Commission was carried out in Europe for the dissemination of the safe use of It was only a few months after Maiman's invention lasers in medicine, and in 1996 a similar program was when this new high-intensity light source was used for medical applications. Light as a therapeutic tool developed with Russia. It was this German--Russian had long been used in medicine, especially in oph­ cooperation that led to a Russian version of the Ger­ thalmology and dermatology. Therefore, these disci­ man original loose-leaf handbook. The editors real­ plines were the first to take advantage of this new tool. ized an ever-growing demand for an English version of this handbook, too. Therefore, the editors are very Although the early results were not as promising as grateful to the Springer publishing house for support­ expected, a new field for medical diagnosis and treat­ ment had been defined. Most of the difficulties in the ing the English edition of the German original.