The original scope of the annual conference on industrial applications of x-ray analysis envisioned almost total participation by representatives from industrial laboratories_ These people were concerned with problems of an immediate nature and thus welcomed the opportunity to meet for a few days with associates from other laboratnries in order to discuss problems of a similar nature, as weH as to interchange information freely and rapidly_ Certainly, this was true during the first few years of the conference's existence. During the past few years, however, a rather subtle blending has occur­ red of representatives from industrial laboratories, universities, and manu­ facturers of x-ray equipment. Papers which deal with the fundamental as­ pects of some phase of x-ray research and which, in many cases, have no end or ultimate objective, are as eagerly received by the conferees as are papers which deal with a specific problem of immediate importance or a paper in which the la test equipment available is portrayed. In our opinion, this x-ray conference, while perhaps no longer slanted specificaHy toward industrial applications of x-ray techniques, does continue to serve the same purpose as a medium of interchange of the latest available information and at the same time provide an opportunity for basic researchers, applied researchers and manufacturing representatives to become acquainted with each other's problems.