Book excerpt: It has been 80 years since the subject of bacterial adhesion to surfaces was first brought forth, but only in the last two decades has the importance of this subject been recognized by medical microbiologists. The fact that bacterial attachment to the host tissue is a prerequisite for infection understandably led to the hope that infections could be prevented by blocking the adhesion of pathogenic bacteria. Progress in this field has been so rapid that it has become difficult to keep up with recent developments. This book contains the proceedings of the symposium on the Molecular Mechanisms of Microbial Adhesion, May 6-8, 1988. Both the symposium and this book were intended as an up-to-date review of the most recent findings concerning the adhesion of medically important bacteria. In addition, this book contains critical and provocative overviews of the past, present and future of this field.