The main focus of this book is on experimental results from electron-positron and electron-proton colliders and related theoretical questions, particularly on hadron production at energies from 1 to 100 GeV and higher. The topics discussed include photo- and electroproduction of heavy flavours, the photon structure function, total cross section, jet production and resonance production. The future of the field is also discussed, notably experiments at linear photon-photon colliders.

This workshop is the fourth of a series initiated in Durham (March 93), followed by Eilat (February 94) and Paris (April 95). The large interest and the great inflow of experimental data, coming mainly from HERA, are some of the reasons behind the decision to have this annual meeting, presently the most important one for this area of research. During the workshop, experimental results and theoretical aspects have been reported on subjects, which have been organised by working groups on: 1) hadron structure functions; 2) photoproduction and photon structure; 3) diffractive interactions; 4) hadronic final states; 5) spin effects in lepton nucleon scattering; 6) special session on theoretical advances. While the contributions to the working groups offer hot material for specialists, the reports by the conveners, as well as other contributions to the plenary sessions, offer to nonspecialists a complete overview of this research field.

The first precision measurements on CP violation in the B system are reported. Both the BELLE and the BABAR collaboration presented, among others, results for sin 2ß with much improved accuracy. Results from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, SNO, also deserve to be mentioned. The convincing evidence of solar neutrino oscillations had been presented by SNO prior to the conference; a full presentation was given at the conference. An incredibly precise measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon is reported, a fresh result from the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Apart from these distinct physics highlights, there are also the first results from the new Tevatron run and from the relativistic heavy ion collider RHIC. Theorists write of our ever better understanding of the Standard Model and of what might lie beyond. Risky as it is to highlight only a couple of exciting subjects, it is merely meantto whet the appetite for further reading.

The proceedings report results on all aspects of high energy photon interactions on photon, proton and Pomeron targets. There are significant contributions from the LEP experiments, from ZEUS and H1, from CLEO II and from the TRISTAN experiments in Japan, accompanied by extensive theoretical discussion and predictions for future gamma-gamma colliders.

These proceedings present the most up-to-date status of deep inelastic scattering (DIS) physics. Topics such as structure function measurements and phenomenology, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) studies in DIS and photoproduction, spin physics and diffractive interactions are reviewed in detail, with emphasis on those studies that push the test of QCD and the Standard Model to the limits of their present range of validity, towards both the very high and the very low four-momentum transfers in lepton-proton scattering.