Charlie Misner's contributions, characterized by profound physical insight and brilliant mathematical skill, have left an indelible mark on general relativity during its course of development for more than the past three decades. Equally important has been his influence on his colleagues and coworkers. To his students he has been a gentle guide, a model mentor and a source of inspiration. Charlie's curriculum vitae included at the end of this volume offers a glimpse of his scholarship and achievements. At the same time, the excerpts from the messages gathered for him on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday, June 13, 1992, are an eloquent testimony to the affection, respect and gratitude of his friends, colleagues and students.

The articles that follow have been written by experts in their respective fields. The areas covered range over a wide spectrum of topics in classical relativity, quantum mechanics, quantum gravity, cosmology and black hole physics. The latest developments in these subjects have been presented, often with reference to the perspective of the past and with indications of future directions. One can discern in most of these articles the influence of Charlie Misner in one form or another.

A novel feature of this Festschrift is that it represents the time-reversed version of the proceedings of an international symposium on Directions in General Relativity organized at the University of Maryland, College Park, May 27–29, 1993, at which the contents of some of these articles and related topics will be discussed in detail. The symposium is in honour of Charles Misner as well as Dieter Brill whose sixtieth birthday falls on August 9, 1993.