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 18 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 i~ designed as a continuum that can be entered anywhere, but which also provides a logical progression of developing facts and integrated concepts.