1 The content ofthis article is based on a German book version ) which appeared at the end of the year 1986. The author tried to incorporate - as far as possible - new important results published in the last year. But the literature in the field of "convection and inhomogeneities in crystal growth from the melt" has increased so much in the meantime that the reader and the collegues should make allowance for any incompleteness, also in the case that their important contributions have not been cited. This could for example hold for problems related to the Czochralski growth. But especially for this topic the reader may be refered to the forthcoming volume of this series, which contains special contributions on "Surface Tension Driven Flow in Crystal Growth Melts" by D. Schwabe and on "Convection in Czochralski Melts" by M. Mihelcic, W. Uelhoff, H. Wenzl and K. Wingerath. The preparation of this manuscript has been supported by several women whose help is gratefully acknowledged by the autor: Mrs. Gisela Neuner for the type writing, Mrs. Abigail Sanders, Mrs. Fiona Eels and especially Prof. Nancy Haegel for their help in questions of the English language and Mrs. Christa Weber for reading corrections. Also the good cooperation with the Springer Verlag, especially Mrs. Bohlen and with the managing editor of Crystals, Prof. H. C. Freyhardt, who critically read the manuscript, is acknowledged.
