preface3

depth of design and purpose in this plan that has repercussions far outside the immediate area of astronomy and astrophysics in Canada over the next decade. The LRPP believes that this kind of decadal planning exercise provides a valuable means of developing a long range vision of our needs throughout the decades to come.

There are many people to thank for their unstinting help and wise counsel over this last year. The panel is grateful for the efforts of the advisory committees and thanks their chairs in particular for the timely preparation of their reports. Likewise, we thank the authors of the many advisory papers for their thoughtful written reports and detailed studies. Many readers gave us interesting suggestions and comments on early drafts of the text and we thank all the writers of those many, many e-mails for their advice. We thank the members of the HIA Advisory and CASCA Boards, Jim Hesser, and Tom Landecker for their written comments on the draft as well. Don Morton (NRC, Director General HIA ), Michael de Robertis (CASCA President), and Kate Wilson (NSERC) provided us with invaluable resources and comments at many points along the way. We thank Eugene Martinello (Creative Services Supervisor, McMaster) and his staff for their imaginative production of this volume. In addition, Patricia Monger (CIS, McMaster) provided us with excellent computer assistance throughout this exercise, and Robert Hay (McMaster) and Robert Lamontagne (Montréal) helped us to design a successful public outreach effort that unfolded during the course of the year.

Finally, I am grateful for the wisdom, energy, commitment, and scientific depth that all members of the LRPP constantly displayed throughout this arduous, but rewarding, undertaking.

Ralph E. Pudritz,
Chair
Long Range Planning Panel
McMaster University, August, 1999.