The symposium, "Symmetries in Science IV: Biological and Biophysical Systems," was held at Schloss Hofen, Vorarlberg, during the period July 24-27, 1989. Its purpose was to promote interaction between scientists working in the area of biological-biophysical research with scientists working in physics, mathematical physics, and mathematics. Reviews in the field of biological-biophysical research were presented by the participants, and subsequently these presentations were analyzed by the interdisciplinary group in a workshop and by means of round table dis cussions. This volume contains the review presentations as a means of making this subject available to the general scientific community. The symposium was co-sponsored by: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Land Vorarlberg U.S. Office of Naval Research, London We wish to thank these institutions for their support. Moreover, we wish to thank the following individuals: Dr. John C. Guyon, President Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Dr. Benjamin A. Shepherd Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Dr. Martin Purtscher Landeshauptmann des Landes Vorarlberg Dr. Guntram Lins Landesrat des Landes Vorarlberg Dr. Hubert Regner Vorstand der Abt. Volksausbildung und Wissenschaft Their generous support and steady encouragement has made Symposium IV possible."

Proceedings of a symposium at Vorarlberg, Austria, July 1989, called to allow interaction between scientists working in areas of biological and biophysical research, and those working in physics and mathematics. The 11 papers include discussions of such topics as symmetry in synthetic and natural pe