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Experimental science is a complicated creature. At the head there is a Gordian knot of ideas and hypotheses; behind is the accumulated mass of decades of research. Only the laboratory methods, the legs which propel science forward, remain firmly in touch with the ground. Growth, however is uneven; dinosaurs develop by solid means to give a vast body of results, but few ideas. Others sprint briefly to success with brilliant, though ill-supported, ideas. The problems which this book addresses is to maintain an organic unity between new ideas and the current profusion of innovative experimental tools. Only then can we have the framework on which our research thoughts may flourish. The contributors are outstanding scientists in their respective fields and they record here in a clear manner the methodology with which they perform their experiments. They also illustrate some of their most exciting findings. In all chapters the emphasis is on the critical analysis of the methodology which is often avoided in refereed Journals. These techniques are explained in this book in adequate detail. Each chapter is extensively referenced and contains the most recent material available from author's laboratory at the time of going to press.

nd The 22 meeting of the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue (LS. O. T. T.) of which this volume is the scientific proceedings, was held in Istanbul, Turkey on August 22-26, 1994. It was a historical occasion in that it was almost 200 years to the day that one of the founding fathers of oxygen research, Antoine Lavoisier, on May 8, 1794 found his early demise at the hands of the guillotine. This spirit of history set the tone of the conference and in the opening lecture the contribution that this part of the world has given to the understanding of oxygen transport to tissue was highlighted. In particular, the contribution of Galen of Pergamon (129-200) was discussed who for the first time demon­ strated that blood flowed through the arteries and whose view on the physiology of the circulation dominated the ancient world for well over a millennium. A forgotten chapter in the history of the circulation of the blood is the contribution made by Ibn al Nafis of Damascus (1210-1280) who for the first time described the importance of the pulmonary circulation by stating that all venous blood entering the right ventricle ofthe heart passes to the left ventricle, not through pores in the septum of the heart as had been postulated by Galen, but through the circulation of the lungs.

The 23rd annual meeting of the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue took place from August 23-27, 1995, at the Station Square Sheraton along the shores of the Monongahela River where it meets with the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers to form the'Point'of the city of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was a convenient location for the meeting be­ ing between both the East and West coasts of the United States and between the Asian and European continents. It is easily accessible by air via its large international airport. In ad­ dition, Pittsburgh has just recently undergone a transition from the steel mills and indus­ tries of old to an age of computers and biotechnology as evidenced by the new Biotechnology Center of the University of Pittsburgh where a lunch and tour were pro­ vided for interested participants. On the tour, the participants got to see the mix of projects ranging from molecular biology to clinical projects studying membrane oxygenators, ven­ tricular assist devices, oxygen carriers, and more, representing the forefront of research on oxygen delivery systems to tissue.