A highly successful Symposium on Transcendental Number Theory was held under the auspices of the London Mathematical Society at the University of Durham in July, 1986, and the present volume is an account of the proceedings of that meeting. Some fifty mathematicians were present, including most of the leading specialists in the field, and the lectures reflected the remarkable research activity that has taken place in this area in recent years. Indeed, as became apparent, the evolution of transcendence, since the 1960s, into a fertile theory with numerous and widespread applications has been one of the most exciting and important developments of modern mathematics. The conference programme, though comprehensive, was intended to be in no way overcrowded, and it was particularly aimed to create a relaxed atmosphere for the free exchange of ideas. This seems to have worked out well; in fact much valuable material was presented for future study and some original theorems were obtained through informal collaboration during the meeting itself. The invited participants from the USSR were alas unable to come to Durham but they communicated reports subsequently and the editor is grateful to them and indeed to all the distinguished authors for contributing so admirably to this volume.

A conference with a similar theme was held in Cambridge some ten years ago and the proceedings were published under the title Transcendence Theory: Advances and Applications (Academic Press, 1977); the present work forms a natural sequel.