More than 500 papers were presented in 44 sessions at the Eighth Symposium of this series. The papers were submitted by 84 organizations of which at least 24 were from outside the United States. The dramatic changes taking place in the fusion programme are illustrated by the observation that at the first such symposium in 1965 there were less papers (40) than there were sessions at the symposium reviewed below. In both instances, the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory served as host.