In this review of massive lepton pair production the Drell-Yan mechanism is defined in terms of the parton model, and the modifications expected from Quantum Chromodynamics description of the process are described. The problems of the phenomenology of the data are described. Included in addition are particle-type dependence, mass spectra, momentum spectra of lepton pairs, Quantum Chromodynamics phenomenology of lepton pair production, angular distributions, structure functions and quark distributions, and the future outlook. 40 references. (JFP).

The general features of lepton pair production are reviewed. Physics motivations for precision measurements of lepton pair production in nuclei are discussed. Preliminary results from Fermilab experiment E772 are presented. The relevance of these results to the EMC effects and to J//psi/ suppression in heavy ion collisions is also discussed. 73 refs., 26 figs., 2 tabs.