The purpose of the Ultra-Wideband Short-Pulse Electromagnetics Conference series is to focus on advanced technologies for the generation, radiation and detection of ultra-wideband short pulse signals, taking into account their propagation, scattering from and coupling to targets of interest; to report on developments in supporting mathematical and numerical methods; and to describe current and potential future applications of the technology.
The fifth such Conference was held in Edinburgh, Scotland in June 2000 as part of EUROEM 2000 and the proceedings in this volume report on newly emerging ideas and develop recurrent themes of earlier meetings. The topics include electromagnetic theory and scattering theory (including papers presented at a special session on fundamental solutions of Maxwell's equations); ultra-wideband radar systems; ultra-wideband and transient antennas; pulsed power generation and propagation; ultra-wideband polarimetry; ultra-wideband and transient metrology; detection and identification studies; RF interactions and chaotic effects; and biological effects.

The fifth Conference on Ultra-Wideband Short-Pulse Electromagnetics was held in Scotland from 30 May to 2 June 2000 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. It formed part of the EUROEM 2000 International Conference under the chairmanship of David Parkes (DERA, Malvern) and Paul Smith (University of Dundee). It continued the series of international conferences that were held first at the Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, New York in 1992 and 1994, then in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1996 (as part of AMEREM '96) and more recently in Tel-Aviv, Israel in 1998 (as part of EUROEM '98). The purpose of these meetings is to focus on advanced technologies for the generation, radiation and detection of ultra-wideband short pulse signals, taking into account their propagation, scattering from and coupling to targets of interest; to report on developments in supporting mathematical and numerical methods; and to describe current and potential future applications of the technology.

Fifteen-year-old Jason Hewes is a fairly ordinary kid, with fairly ordinary problems. He's more interested in dinosaurs and fantasy role-playing games than sports, making him a target for local bullies, and his dating successes are best described as sporadic. He's just another kid struggling to get through life in a small rural town in Montana. Nothing exciting or exceptional ever happens to him. The impact of something heavy crashing into the ground of the Hewes' family farmhouse shakes the house and Jason's life. Whatever hits the ground scurries into the barn, followed by a frightened but curious Jason. Jason has just discovered a creature out of legend; a beast which all logic tells him should not-could not-exist. Some kids might run. Others might scream or faint. Instead, Jason befriends the ancient creature, and in doing so learns an entire mythic species is emerging from a centuries-long slumber. Jason isn't the only one to notice large, leathery-winged beasts taking to the skies of modern Montana. A powerful and long-forgotten evil is watching his newly-revived enemies closely. He'll do anything to destroy his bitter foes and their new-found allies-allies that now include Jason Hewes. Paul Smith's debut novel, Jason and the Draconauts is a witty, funny adventure story where an ordinary teen finds himself in an extraordinary situation, and in doing so, finds himself capable of performing the impossible.