Following a suggestion by the Gesellschaft fur Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik (GAMM) the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mecha nics (IUTAM) decided to sponsor a Symposium on "Laminar-Turbulent Tran sition". Originally planned to be held in Oberwolfach, where the number of participants would have had to have been rather limited, the overwhelming response to the first announcement made it clear that the larger facili ties at the University of Stuttgart would be more appropriate. The Scientific Committee decided that the Symposium should concentrate on fundamental mechanisms of the transition process. With this limited scope it was hoped to facilitate an easy exchange of ideas and to enable fruit ful discussions. The Symposium consisted of eight invited lectures in ad dition to 34 contributed papers solicited by a Call for Papers. With this Call for Papers it was intended to encourage participation of yet unknown researchers in this field and to insure that all innovative work would be included.
