Book excerpt: Language Interpretation and Communication: a NATO Symposium, was a multi-disciplinary meeting held from September 26 to October 1st 1977 at the Giorgio Cini Foundation on the Isle of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. The Symposium explored both applied and theoretical aspects of conference interpre tation and of sign language interpretation. The Symposium was sponsored by the Scientific Affairs Division of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and we would like to express our thanks to Dr. B. A. Bayrakter of the Scientific Affairs Division and to the Members of the NATO Special Programme Panel on Human Factors for their support. We would also like to thank Dr. F. Benvenutti and his colleagues at the University of Venice for their generous provision of facilities and hospitality for the opening session of the Symposium. Our thanks are also due to Dr. Ernesto Talentino and his colleagues at the Giorgio Cini Foundation who provided such excellent conference facilities and thus helped ensure the success of the meeting. Finally, we would like to express our appreciation and thanks to Becky Graham and Carol Blair for their invaluable contributions to the organization of the Symposium, to Ida Stevenson who prepared these proceedings for publication, and to Donald I. MacLeod who assisted with the final preparation of the manuscript.