The review on Light Absorption Spectrometry has been written by David F. Boitz and M. G. Mellon since 1956. In the years before 1956, Dr. Mellon prepared the review alone. This is the last review by these outstanding contributors. Dr. Boitz died unexpectedly on January 9, 1976, after he had prepared the bulk of the material for this issue's review. Dr. Mellon has asked the editors to make this his last contribution. The editors and readers of Analytical Chemistry owe a huge vote of thanks to these workers for the many, many hours of dedicated work that has gone into the preparation of these biennial reviews over the past 20 years. Brief biographies of Drs. Boitz and Mellon appear below. David F. Boitz was professor of chemistry at Wayne State University and also a science advisor for the Detroit District Laboratory of the Food and Drug Administrations. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin in 1938, his M.S. from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1940, and his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Purdue University in 1946. His particular fields of interest were in ultraviolet and light absorption spectrometry, analytical separation methods, heteropoly chemistry, and atomic absorption spectroscopy. He was the author of many research papers, chapters in books, and reviews. In 1971, Dr. Boitz received the first Anachem Fellow Award from the Association of Analytical Chemists and the Faculty Research Award from the Sigma Xi chapter at Wayne State University. He was a member of the Advisory Board of Analytical Chemistry and also served on the editorial board of Analytical Letters.