This volume addresses algebraic invariants that occur in the confluence of several important areas of mathematics, including number theory, algebra, and arithmetic algebraic geometry. The invariants are analogues for Galois cohomology of the characteristic classes of topology, which have been extremely useful tools in both topology and geometry. It is hoped that these new invariants will prove similarly useful. Early versions of the invariants arose in the attempt to classify the quadratic forms over a given field.The authors are well-known experts in the field. Serre, in particular, is recognized as both a superb mathematician and a master author. His book on Galois cohomology from the 1960s was fundamental to the development of the theory. Merkurjev, also an expert mathematician and author, co-wrote ""The Book of Involutions"" (Volume 44 in the AMS Colloquium Publications series), an important work that contains preliminary descriptions of some of the main results on invariants described here. The book also includes letters between Serre and some of the principal developers of the theory. It will be of interest to graduate students and research mathematicians interested in number theory and Galois cohomology.
