The idea for another conference on the theme of Infrared Astronomy with Arrays actually goes back to March 1987. At a party held in my home at the end of the Hilo conference, excitement was running high and everyone present was in favor of another meeting. I recall suggesting to Al Fowler that the next meeting could be in Tucson. Despite Al's reply to the effect that Hawaii was a much nicer location, a meeting was held in Tucson three years later. That meeting focussed more on the astrophysics which had been accomplished with the detectors, rather than on techniques and methods. However, it was already apparent in February of 1990 that a new generation of larger m arrays would soon supersede the 64x64 class of devices and so, having just moved from the UK Infrared Telescope unit in Hawaii to join with Eric Becklin in his move to UCLA, it seemed to me that another Hilo-style conference was appropriate, and Eric agreed.

Completely revised and reorganized while retaining the approachable style of the first edition, Infrared Detectors, Second Edition addresses the latest developments in the science and technology of infrared (IR) detection. Antoni Rogalski, an internationally recognized pioneer in the field, covers the comprehensive range of subjects necessary to un

A revolution similar to that brought by CCDs to visible astronomy is still ahead in IR and submillimeter astronomy. There is certainly no wavelength range which has, over the past several years, seen such impressive advances in technology: large-scale detector arrays, new designs for cooling in space, lightweight mirror technologies. Scientific cases for observing the cold universe are outstanding. Observations in the FIR/Submm range will provide answers to such fundamental questions as: What is the spectrum of the primordial fluctuations? How do primeval galaxies look? What are the first stages of star formation? Most of the international space missions that have been triggered by these questions are presented in detail here. Technological issues raised by these missions are reviewed, as are the most recent achievements in cooling and detector technologies.