No apology is needed for the birth of this journal, but perhaps some explanation is called for in a world of diminishing library budgets. Antarctic science has never been so healthy. The recent marked increase in the number of participating nations has strengthened the range of scientific activities but it is in danger of weakening the routes for the exchange of information. Papers are becoming increasingly dispersed throughout the general literature, minimizing the potential for cross-fertilization between disciplines and making synthesis more difficult. Antarctic science is now not just of national political interest but of global relevance. Major advances in polar science, as in science elsewhere in the world, result increasingly from team efforts in interdisciplinary research with results and conclusions of interest to a wide range of disciplines.