This volume comprises the proceedings of the 15th International Mass Spectrometry Conference held in Barcelona, attended by over 1100 registered delegates from 38 countries. Because the applications of mass spectrometry to biochemistry, biology and medicine have become a very important source of activity in the field these areas are very well represented in the content of this volume. However the importance of fundamental research and instrumental and methodology developments to all applications is also highlighted.

The book is divided into five sections:

· Fundamentals

· Biological/Biochemical Applications,

· Instrumentation and Ionization

· Analytical Organic Mass Spectrometry

· Inorganic Mass Spectrometry

These five sections consist of full papers from the excellent plenary and keynote speakers together with abstracts of more than 300 oral and poster contributions from the total of 701 presented at the conference. The selection reflects the present state-of-the art in the field of mass spectrometry.