Large Scale Structures of the Universe

Ten years ago in August 1977 Malcom Longair and Jan Einasto organized IAU Symposium nO 79 on exactly the same exciting and most important topic i.e. the Large Scale Structure of the Universe. Many of us have the recollection of an outstanding meeting which fulfilled two goals (i) establish most of the foundation of a fast growing field (ii) set up a confrontation between the excellent observational and theoretical work performed in eastern and western countries. A decade after such a meeting Alex Szalay and I have felt the need to reassemble the cosmologists working actively on problems dealing with the Uni­ verse as a whole. Indeed a lot of progress has been achieved in the building of large surveys in the discovery of voids, sponges and filaments in the galaxy clus­ ter distribution, in refined numerical simulations, in experimental and theoretical particle physics (outcome of new particles (cold particles) and unification (GUT, supersymmetry) schemes), in research of quantum gravity and inflation scenarios etc ... A new confrontation between all the specialists working all throughout the world on such questions appeared to us to be most timely. This is why the location of Balatonfiired in Hungary to be accessible to anyone as Tallin in 1977 has been chosen.