Laboratory Fundamental Data

Abstract

An essential prescription for a review paper prepared for a conference is that it treat an area of currently flourishing research – a requirement directly conflicting with limitations of time and space. Under the present title, a large output of diverse and enterprising experimental endeavour has indeed appeared in the three years since the Maryland meeting, so that the reviewer is forced to be very selective. Fortunately, the situation is alleviated by the inclusion in Dr Burgess’s review of ‘Plasma Spectroscopy’ of much material describable as ‘fundamental data’ – such as f-value measurements obtained from plasma sources, shock-tubes and arcs. Again little reference is needed here to the important and extensive work on line identifications and classifications in spectra of medium to high ionization stages, since these will be covered by Dr C. Jordan’s review and several contributed papers.