Book excerpt: The Singularity School and Conference took place in Luminy, Marseille, from January 24th to February 25th 2005. More than 180 mathematicians from over 30 countries converged to discuss recent developments in singularity theory.The volume contains the elementary and advanced courses conducted by singularities specialists during the conference, general lectures on singularity theory, and lectures on applications of the theory to various domains. The subjects range from geometry and topology of singularities, through real and complex singularities, to applications of singularities.