The editors are pleased to present these Proceedings of the V Course of the "International School of Radiation Damage and Pro­ tection" of the "E. Majorana Centre", held in Erice (Italy) in No­ vember 1983. The lectures and discussions among leading scientists in various disciplines of physics, engineering, biophysics, cellular biology, physiology and medicine from 11 countries are included in this compilation. In this volume we have attempted to explore all aspects of the interaction of static and Extremely Low Frequency (ELF: 0-300 Hz) electric and magnetic fields with biological tissue, systems and whole organisms; we considered dosimetry and what is known or pre­ sumed concerning basic interactions, responses from the cellular and molecular level to the whole organism. Discussions of medical appli­ cations as well as epidemiologic investigations related to high volt­ age transmission were held with critiques of methodologies used and recommendations for future approaches. Consideration was also given to the necessity and principles of setting protection standards for man and the environment. We believe this is the first attempt to put all this informa­ tion together into one volume to provide perspective for understand­ ing the influence of static and ELF electric and magnetic fields on biological systems. We hope our attempts were successful. Martino Grandolfo Sol M. Michaelson Alessandro Rindi v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This is the Fifth Course of the International School of Radia­ tion Damage and Protection of the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Sci­ entific Culture directed by Professor A. Zichichi.