The object of this school, held at Cargese, Corsica (France) from August 12th to 24th 1991, was the presentation of the field of guided wave nonlinear optics in a comprehensive, coherent, and heuristic fashion. It seems appropriate that this school began with an historical introduction by Professor Nicolaas Bloembergen of Harvard, the acknowledged "father" of nonlinear optics, in general, and concluded with a round table discussion headed by Dr. Eric Spitz, the Scientific Director of a multinational electronics company interested in developing industrial applications of guided wave nonlinear optics. The lectures covered both the theoretical framework of the field and applications to basic scientific research, optical communications and technical instrumentation. Specific topics developed included materials for guided wave nonlinear optics, nonlinear interactions using integrated optical guides, nonlinear surface waves, solitons, fiber nonlinear optics, ultra-fast coupler switching as well as the related topic of fiber and integrated optical lasers and amplifiers. Lectures have also been devoted to squeezed states, chaos and strange attractors. The subjects covered by the school underlines one of the major ways in which this field has evolved over the past thirty some odd years. The path from the original experiments with materials requiring mega-watt power lasers to the recent developments in guided wave configurations using milliwatt power diode lasers is marked by the conjunction of ever improving fundamental scientific comprehension and continuing technological developments.

The object of this school, held at Cargese, Corsica (France) from August 12th to 24th 1991, was the presentation of the field of guided wave nonlinear optics in a comprehensive, coherent, and heuristic fashion. It seems appropriate that this school began with an historical introduction by Professor Nicolaas Bloembergen of Harvard, the acknowledged "father" of nonlinear optics, in general, and concluded with a round table discussion headed by Dr. Eric Spitz, the Scientific Director of a multinational electronics company interested in developing industrial applications of guided wave nonlinear optics. The lectures covered both the theoretical framework of the field and applications to basic scientific research, optical communications and technical instrumentation. Specific topics developed included materials for guided wave nonlinear optics, nonlinear interactions using integrated optical guides, nonlinear surface waves, solitons, fiber nonlinear optics, ultra-fast coupler switching as well as the related topic of fiber and integrated optical lasers and amplifiers. Lectures have also been devoted to squeezed states, chaos and strange attractors. The subjects covered by the school underlines one of the major ways in which this field has evolved over the past thirty some odd years. The path from the original experiments with materials requiring mega-watt power lasers to the recent developments in guided wave configurations using milliwatt power diode lasers is marked by the conjunction of ever improving fundamental scientific comprehension and continuing technological developments.

The Advanced Study Institute on Fiber and Integrated Optics was held at Cargese from June 23 to July 7, 1978, at a time when both fields were undergoing a very rapid evolution. Fiber optics communications systems, in a multimode form, are moving out of laboratories and into practical use, and integrated optics is beginning to produce high performance, single-mode devices. In addition, the spin-off from the technological developments in both fields is beginning to have a growing impact on the general field of experimental physics. The lectures given at Cargese and assembled here illustrate these points and will be of considerable interest to both newcomers and people already in these fields. The lectures in the first eight chapters of the book deal with fiber and optical communications. The second section, chapters 9-13, is devoted essentially to integrated optics. The third section, chapters 14-17, is devoted to technical seminars and the remaining chapters, 18-22, to national reviews and economic aspects of fiber systems. On behalf of the organizing committee, which included Drs. Unger, Arnaud, Scheggi, and Daino, I would like to thank the Scientific Affairs Division of NATO, and in particular its director, Dr. T. Kester, for enabling this Advanced Study Institute to be held. In addition, we would like to offer a very heartfelt thanks to Marie-France Hanseler, who, aided by Aline Medernach and G. Sala, created the memorable atmosphere that pervaded the Institute.