Summary

The Fritz Haber Symposium on Methods of Laser Spectroscopy was held in Ein Bokek, Israel, on the shores of the Dead Sea, on December 16-20, 1985. The location is the lowest place on earth, 392 meters below sea level. It was hoped that 120 active laser scientists, so lowly trapped in such a place, with the nearest entertainment 100 km away, will have no choice but to discuss laser spectroscopy. On the average, the Dead Sea area receives 3-4 days of rain each year, and this year these days all occurred during the conference. This did not mean the cancellation of the hikes, although the trip to Massada was conducted in the rain. The unexpected rains also caused flash floods in the area, and Ein Bokek was completely cut-off on Thursday night. The archeologist scheduled to speak after dinner, and the belly dancer scheduled to appear afterwards, (~ould not arrive, resulting in the only serious deviation from the original plan. The scientific program consisted of invited talks and contributed posters. The emphasis in selection of invited speakers and topics was on the methods rather than specific molecular systems, and an attempt was made to allow ample time for discussion after each lecture. The same philosophy guided us in editing this book, and authors were requested to write manuscripts longer than usual for standard conference proceedings.