This volume is dedicated to Dr. WW Peter (Fig. 1), whose foresight and enthusiasm played an important role in the recruitment of subjects for the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Dr. Peter, a retired Medical Officer of the United States Public Health Service, provided the initial impetus that led to the recruitment of normal men residing in the community as subjects for their entire lifetimes in a study of aging. In 1958 very few people recognized the impact that the increasing number of elderly people in the population would have on our society. Only a few voices were raised to point out the need for research on aging. Dr. Peter's was one of them. Perhaps because of his experience as a physician, Dr. Peter saw the need to study aging in individuals who were free from disabling diseases and were leading successful lives in the community. He" sold" this idea to his friends, neighbors, and colleagues and persuaded them to enroll as participants in a study that would involve repeated tests and examinations over their entire life spans. He represented participation in the study as a contribution to science and the future of mankind. Dr. Peter soon realized that his own efforts were not likely to recruit enough subjects to answer many of the questions posed about aging. Hence he proposed to