Book excerpt: The NATO Advanced Research Institute on Search Theory and Appli cations was held at the Hotel Algarve in Praia Da Rocha, Portugal, from March 26 through March 30, 1979, and was sponsored by the NATO Special Programme Panel on Systems Science. There were forty-one participants representing a wide range of backgrounds and interests. The purpose of the institute was to bring together people working in search theory and applications with potential users of search techniques to stimulate the increased application of recent ly developed search technology to civilian problems such as search and rescue, mineral exploration, surveillance, and fishing. Con versely, it was felt that by exposing search analysts to potential applications and new problems, they would be stimulated to develop new techniques for these applications and problems. The exchange of ideas and problems necessary to accomplish these goals was provided in the meeting workshops. There were three workshops, Search and Rescue, Exploration, and Surveillance and Fishing, each consisting of a small group of search analysts and potential users working together to define areas in which search theory and technology can be applied and to outline plans for im plementation. At the end of the conference, each working group submitted a report outlining possible areas of search applications and discussing problems which needed to be solved in order to im plement these applications.