This is the latest volume in the series of proceedings from the biannual International Conference on Laser Spectroscopy, one of the leading conferences in the field. Over its 34-year history, this conference series has been a forum for the announcement of many new developments in laser physics and laser spectroscopy and more recently laser cooling of atoms and quantum information processing. The proceedings include contributions from the invited speakers and a selection of contributed papers.A particular theme for this volume is precision measurements. Motivated by the untapped potential for vast improvements in accuracy offered by atomic systems, this subject has advanced tremendously in recent years by new developments in laser technology. This has been recognized by the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to two of the pioneers in the field and contributors to these proceedings, J L Hall and T W Hänsch.The other main theme of the proceedings is cold atoms and quantum degenerate gases. This conference marked the 10th anniversary of the first announcement of an atomic Bose-Einstein Condensate at the 12th International Conference on Laser Spectroscopy with a contribution from Nobel Laureate Eric Cornell.

The Seventh International Conference on Laser Spectroscopy or SEICOLS'85 was held at the Maui Surf Hotel, Hawaii, USA, June 24 to 28, 1985. Like its predecessors at Vail, Megeve, Jackson Lake, Rottach-Egern, Jasper Park, and Interlaken, SEICOLS '85 aimed at providing an informal setting for active scientists to meet and discuss recent developments and applications in laser spectroscopy. The Conference site on the sunny sands of famed Kaanapali Beach on the Island of Maui, although perhaps not the traditional mountain resort, offered nonetheless an atmosphere most inspiring to creative discussions during the unscheduled afternoons. The Conference was truly international: 223 scientists represented 19 countries, including Australia, Canada, People's Republic of China, Denmark, Finland, France Germany (FRG), Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and U.S.A. The intense scientific program included 14 topical sessions with 59 invited talks. Approximately 60 additional invited papers and 16 postdeadline papers were presented during three lively evening poster sessions. The present Proceedings contain oral as well as poster and postdeadline papers. We thank all authors for the timely preparation of their manuscripts, now available to a wider audience. We would also like to thank the members of the International Steering Committee for their valuable suggestions and advice. Our special thanks go to the members of the Program Committee for their painstaking efforts.

The Fourth International Conference on Laser Spectroscopy (FICOLS) was held in the Hotel Oberfahrt in Rottach-Egern, Tegernsee, June 11-15, 1979. Rottach-Egern is a well-known health resort situated on the southern end of Lake Tegernsee. As with the previous laser spectroscopy conferences in Vail, Megeve, and Jackson, the purpose of FICOLS was to provide ~n informal setting where an international group of scientists active in laser spectroscopy could discuss current problems and developments in the field. The program consisted essen tially of invited lectures with appropriate time provided for the latest postdeadline results. The conference was attended by 340 scientists representing 25 countries: Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada,- Peoples Re public of China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany (FRG), Germany (GDR), Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Nether lands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.S.k,, U.S.S.R., and Yugoslavia. Unfortunately five of our colleagues from Japan who planned to attend the meeting could not come due to an interruption of airline schedules, Their absence was a distinct loss to the conference. However, their papers will be published in one of the forthcoming issues of the journal Applied Physics. Numerous people have contributed to making the conference a success. Especially we would like to thank the members of the steering committee for their advice concerning the program.

The XV International Conference on Laser Spectroscopy brought together spectroscopists from all over the world working in the very diverse and still growing field of laser spectroscopy. It addressed a large number of modern scientific issues at the highest level.

The eighteenth International Conference on Laser Spectroscopy was held on 24-29 June 2007 in Telluride, Colorado. In keeping with its rich tradition, ICOLS-07 was truly an international gathering with 173 delegates and 34 accompanying guests from 21 countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States).This volume presents the invited talks comprising the technical program of the Conference, arranged in the general topic areas of degenerate quantum gases, quantum information and control, precision measurements, fundamental physics and applications, ultra-fast control and spectroscopy, novel spectroscopic applications, spectroscopy on the small scale, cold atoms and molecules, single atoms and quantum optics, and optical atomic clocks. The vibrant exchange of ideas provided the real strength and foundation of the Conference, especially in areas of the ever-expanding field of laser spectroscopy.