Forty years ago, when PLANT AND SOIL first appeared, Europe was still recovering from the devastating effects of World War II. During the war years, work in many centres of agricultural research had come to a virtual standstill. Buildings and equipment were destroyed, scientists were often forced to terminate their research and teaching activities and funds allocated to such work were diverted to other, at that time, more pressing needs. During the first post-war years reconstruction was undertaken with great zeal and in that light the founding of the new journal PLANT AND SOIL must be viewed. In the pre-war period most agricultural science journals were still primarily national ones and consequently many articles were published in languages mastered by only a limited number of potential readers. In small countries whose languages are not widely understood, the desire arose to publish research findings in one of the major languages. It is therefore understandable that in the early years of the journal's existence, large portions of PLANT AND SOIL were filled with articles from the Scandinavian countries and The Nether lands. Originally, rather frequent use was made of the opportunity to publish also in German and French, but with the advance of English as a major language of communication, a decline was noticeable in the number of German and French manuscripts submitted. As a consequence the Edi torial Board has recently decided to terminate the publishing of articles in these languages."

Based on a 20-year survey organised by the Botanical Society of Scotland, this is the most extensive and authoritative Flora of Edinburgh and the Lothians to be published since 1927. In addition to a complete Flora of vascular plants in the three Lothian vice-counties, the book includes: *Specialist chapters on topics ranging from fungi to ferns and from geology and climate to ethnobotany. *A substantial Bryophyte Flora of Edinburgh and the Lothians. *A discussion of land-use changes and the ecological and phytogeographical indications from the survey. *A description of the survey and details of the methods used in the compilation of the Flora. *30 colour and black and white plates, nearly 400 distribution maps and other illustrations. The Lothians are rich in diversity, from the moist uplands of the south to the dry, flat lands of the north-east. Habitats range from seacoast to moorland, from river and loch to woodland and meadow. In addition to this variety, there is the impact of man as manifested by agriculture, urbanisation, industry, and now climate change.Plant Life of Edinburgh and the Lothians presents an up-to-date account of this richness and will provide an essential basis for comparison with the flora and vegetation of the future.