Book excerpt: This book consists of papers prepared for and presented at a NATO sponsored Advanced Study Institute which was held in Montechoro, Portugal during the period 16-27 April, 1990. This Institute was attended by approximately ninety delegates from fifteen countries and followed from a related Institute held in Vimeiro, Portugal in 1987 (see the book entitled "Instrumentation for Combustion and Flow in Engines", edited by D. F. G. Dur~o, J. H. Whitelaw and P. O. Witzel. The purposes of the first Institute related closely to instrumentation for use in gas-turbine combustors and the cylinders of internal-combustion engines. These topics were also addressed in the second Institute, though in a manner which was wider ranging and chosen to demonstrate and explain the development and application of measurement methods to combusting flows in general. The papers contained in this boo~ were selected to provide the reader with a comprehensive and up-to-date view of the variety of experimental techniques available to measure in combusting flows. Included are discussions of their range and applicability, potential accuracy and ease of use. Thus, the first paper provides a brief overview and the second an indication of those aspects of combustion which should influence the choice of flow property to be measured and the technique to be used.