Algols: Proceedings of the 107th Colloquium of the International Astronomical Union held in Sidney, B.C., Canada, August 1519, 1988 [Paperback]

When leaving the Victoria airport the day before our Colloquium, I saw a van of the Dunsmuir Lodge marked with big letters which I read as Alcohol Colloquium . I do often make such blunders because of the global, casual, and careless way in which I read various ads, and checked myself quickly to read it correctly as Algol Colloquium . Millions of fellow citizens could easily make the same mistake, and no apology could be expected. Even I read and hear the word alcohol more frequently than Algol, although I must say that Algols have given me more pleasure and fewer headaches over the years; in that, however, I may be a singularity, and possibly a pitiful one at that. Being appointed Chairman of the Scientific Organizing Committee, I may be deemed to be a purer Algolist than other investigators, although my range of active interests is much broader; and the same is true about all the 28 invited speakers and all the other participants of the Colloquium. Our interest are strongly diversified, but there are several good reasons that brought us together at this Colloquium.Two Centuries of Study of Algol Systems.- The H? Emitting Regions of the Accretion Disks in Algols.- Photometric Effects of Accretion Disks in Long-Period Eclipsing Binaries.- Algol, Beta Lyrae, and W Serpentis: Some New Results for Three Well Studied Eclipsing Binaries.- Time-Resolved Spectroscopy of Accretion Disks in Algols.- Polarizing Gas at Small Optical Depths around Algols.- Mass Flow in Interacting Binaries Observed in the Ultraviolet.- 5003200? Observations of the Interacting Binary Stars V356 Sagitarii and ? Lyrae.- Circumstellar Matter in Algols and Serpentids.- Accretion Disks in Algols.- Theoretical Modelling of Algol Disks.- Algols: Wherefrom, Whereto, and What in Between?.- Formation and Evolution of Low-Mass Algols.- Algols as Limits on Binary Evolution Scenarios.- The Evolution of Moderately Close and Moderately Wide Binaries.- Fundamental Parameters of the W Serpentis Stars.- The lW