Book excerpt: This volume chronicles the proceedings of the Third Symposium on Metallized Plastics: Fundamental and Applied Aspects held under the auspices of the Dielectric Science and Technology Division of the Electrochemical Society in Phoenix, Arizona, October 13-18, 1991. This series of symposia to address the subject of metallized plastics was initiated in 1988 and the premier symposium was held in Chicago, October 10-12, 1988, followed by the second event in Montreal, Canada, May 7-10, 1990. The rroceedings of these two symposia have been properly documented ,2. The third symposium was a huge success like the previous two events, and all this is testimonial to the brisk interest and high tempo of R&D activity in the fie14 of metallized plastics. This further bolsters our earlier thinking that there was a conspicuous need to hold symposia on this topic on a regular basis and the fourth is planned for May 16-21, 1993 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The study of metallized plastics constitutes an important human endeavor l and as pointed out earlier there are myriad applications of metallized plastics ranging from very commonplace to exotic. Also a survey of the recent literature will reveal that both the fundamental and applied aspects of metallized plastics are being pursued with great vigor.