I am honored to have been appointed the Editor of the Annual Review of Nutrition, in the summer of 1984, just after the publication of Volume 4, I had the pleasure of working as an Associate Editor with Dr. William Darby, the first Editor of this series, and with Dr. Harry Broquist of Vanderbilt University, the other Associate Editor, during the birth, infancy, and early childhood of this new publishing venture. The first five issues of the Annual Review of Nutrition were planned by Dr. Darby and an Editorial Committee.

Nutrition is the science of food and its relationship to health. Because of its breadth, it is a highly multidisciplinary field drawing from agriculture, food science, behavioral science, and many of the basic life sciences and medical specialties. At the time the Annual Review of Nutrition was founded, it was the intention of the Editorial Committee to provide reviews in basic, clinical, and public health nutrition. In the first five volumes, which have seen the publication of 92 chapters, 50% of the pages have dealt with basic and experimental nutrition, 33% have been devoted to clinical nutrition, and the remaining percentage have been related to epidemiology, anthropology, and public health nutrition. Each volume has contained chapters in all of these areas, and we expect to continue this practice.

The nutrition science and biomedical communities have welcomed this addition to the family of Annual Reviews. It was initiated in 1981 in the 50th year of Annual Reviews Inc., and represents the 24th member of the Annual Reviews series. It is my hope that we can continue to enjoy the confidence and support of the nutrition science community, both in the production of these incisive and critical reviews and in the purchase and utilization of the series.

The present issue, Volume 5, begins with a prefatory chapter by Dr. Darby in which he recalls his fifty years of work in nutrition science. This is followed by chapters on energy metabolism, carbohydrates in diabetes, the physiology of fat transport, vitamin E and lipid peroxidation, vitamin B2-folate interrelationships, and the role of zinc in reproduction. Several chapters are devoted to the trace minerals. In the area of toxicology, two essays deal with anticarcinogenic substances in foodstuffs and alkaloids in animal forages. Clinical reviews include chapters on energy balance, cancer, regulation of food intake, gluten sensitivity, and the nutritional implications of inflammatory bowel disease. We also have an interesting paper on nutritional policy implementation and one on newly recognized food-borne bacterial diseases.

It is the goal of the Editorial Committee to select areas for review that represent the cutting edge of science as it advances our knowledge of experimental and clinical nutrition. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of nutrition, it appears to me that many of the advances in our understanding of both basic and applied nutrition may, in fact, be made by investigators who are not considered by themselves or by their colleagues as nutritionists. This is so because many of the scientific frontiers of nutrition science life in the areas of biochemistry, molecular biology, biophysics, physiology, and endocrinology, areas that are explored by both basic and clinical investigators.

The nutritionist is becoming increasingly identified with the application of nutrition knowledge to various animal, medical, and public health problems. There are frontiers here also, but rarely do they relate to the mechanistic study of nutrient absorption, transport, or biological activity. The currently expanding areas of nutritional science include the action of the fat-soluble vitamins, essential fatty acids, trace minerals, and the effects of nutrients on the regulation of cell metabolism.

In conclusion, I would like to welcome as a new Associate Editor Dr. Ernest Beutler, who will join Dr. Broquist and me in managing the journal for the next four years. I would also like to thank my associates on the Editorial Committee, the consultants who have aided us in putting together Volume 5, and the authors who have provided excellent reviews for publication in Volume 5. I am looking forward to continued association with them in accomplishing the work that has been so well started by the founding Editor of the Annual Review of Nutrition, Dr. William Darby.

Robert E. Olson, Editor