On the understanding that few people ever read the preface to any book and also on the understanding that even those few people who do read the preface realize that virtually nothing of any substance is ever said, I shall write at such length as will be proportional to my expected readership. The meetings of the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue provide a forum for discussion amongst scientists who, although being from very diverse and specialized backgrounds, have tissue oxygenation as a unifying theme of interest. The wide variety of research material presented in this volume and the multiplicity of the experimental techniques described, should serve as an adequate gauge to the range of expertise and knowledge of the society's members. Such diversity should also stress the importance of the need for multidisciplinary approaches to complex biological problems. In attempting a fundamental characterization of a biological process such as tissue oxygenation, the application of very many separate research skills are necessary, such as mathematics, engi neering, biophysics, biochemistry, physiology, histology and clini cal medicine. The success of the ISOTT has - and we hope - will con tinue to be causing a combination of individuals to direct their specialized knowledge to the many facets of a single proces- tissue oxygenation."

The first International Symposium on Theory and Applica- tion of Ion and Enzyme Electrodes in Biology and Medicine was organized at SchloB Reisensburg near Ulm in 1974. The concept of this meeting was to discuss the theory and applica- tion of carrier operated electrodes within an interdisciplinary group of investigators coming from physical chemistry, or- ganic chemistry, physiology, biochemistry and medicine. Be- cause of its interdisciplinary character, the Symposium proved to be very productive and further meetings based on the same principle were held at the Max-Planck-Institut fUr Systemphysiologie in Dortmund in 1977 and 1980. For the 1983 meeting it was decided to return to the ethe- real atmosphere of a castle (Burg Rabenstein) set in the beau- tiful surroundings of Swiss Franconia. Participation was re- stricted to those involved in the theoretical, experimental and clinical applications of ion selective electrodes. In this way a critical mass was achieved whereby an infor- mation transfer was induced between groups who had previ- ously had little or no communication with each other. We hope that this interdisciplinary spirit may encourage and stimulate those scientists and clinicians who are considering entering the field of ion investigations and that this book may serve as a compendium of current ion selective electrode methodology and ideas, together with their application in the- oretical fields, physiology and medicine.

Proceedings of the Meeting on Theory and Application of Ion Selective Electrodes in Physiology and Medicine, held at Dortmund on July 28-30, 1980

It is becoming traditional that periodically those of us interested in the carotid body hold an international meeting to discuss their results. In 1966 a meeting was organized by R. W. Torrance in Oxford and in 1973 by M. J. Purves in Bristol; in 1974 A. S. Paintal organized a satellite symposium of the Physiological Congress in Kashmir. The organizers of these meetings are to be commended for their efforts in publishing both the papers and discussions. At these meetings it has become apparent that the direction of research is becoming more sharpely focused on the cellular mechanisms of chemoreception. During the meeting in Dortmund the papers dealt mostly with the different cell types in the carotid body and their environment, i. e., local P0 and local flow. These included 2 light and electron microscopic studies of the morphometric and histochemical pro perties of the different cells, microelectrode studies of the glomoid tissue to understand the conversion of a chemical stimulation into nervous activity, as well as strictly bio chemical and physiologic investigations concerning the dependence of the chemo receptive process on O consumption and the turnover of catecholamines. In spite 2 of the variety in methodology, it was apparent that all contributors had a common interest: to understand the mechanisms of chemoreception. Although at the meeting itself there was ample time to fully discuss the various papers, it has become necessary here to shorten the papers and discussions; otherwise the cost of publication would have been prohibitive."