It's a pleasure and an honor to provide an introduction to this impressive work. Drs. Krippner and Dillard are to be congratulated for having produced an extremely readable, broad-ranging book on the potential of dreams for helping each of us to become a more fully aware and awake human being. The authors trace the cultural role of dreams from antiquity to the present and provide succinct summaries of the many theories. which have been advanced for our nocturnal imagery, ranging from visits by deities to models of cognitive processing based upon computer technology. The facts which have emerged from the laboratory studies of EEG-monitored sleeping individuals about the frequency and duration of dreaming and the physiological changes accompanying them are presented in a very comprehensible manner. The authors bring together considerable material related to creativity and problem-solving and make several suggestions about how these principles could be applied in practical ways in an educational or business setting. However, marketplace applications are kept in an appropriate perspective and the possible enhancement of spiritual growth through attention to dreams is also considered. Recognizing that we still know little about the parameters of the mind, Krippner, who has had an illustrious career as a para-psychological researcher as well as an academician, and Dillard, who has been increasingly recognized in the holistic health field, escort the reader on a guided tour of the possible psychic realms with which dreams may be involved. They provide provocative data to support the hypothesis that dreams may reveal previously undiagnosed medical conditions, foretell events before their occurrence, and provide a means of telepathic exchange between dreamers. The authors are careful, however, not to over generalize these data and they provide the necessary cautions and caveats to remember when considering these possibilities. Numerous examples of dream reports from historica l accounts as well as from contemporary people are interspersed and commented upon. One of the strongly appealing features of this book is that each chapter contains useful and easily understandable exercises which allow the reader to test the principle concepts about dream appreciation developed in that chapter. This enables their book to be used as both a text and as a workbook. It would be an excellent choice, therefore, for the individual who wishes to understand better his or her dreams on one's own or for a classroom instructor to employ in a course on dreams. The authors provide a fine bibliography of source material for those who may wish further illumination on the many intriguing ideas about dreams spotlighted throughout this book. Robert L. Van de Castle Professor, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry University of Virginia Medical School; President, Association for the Study of Dreams 1985-86