You open the book, which contains invited reviews and short notes of contributions to NflNOME£lWG-2D01. This Conference is the first international forum of scientists, studying physics and chemistry of nanostructures, of the XXI-st century. It is for main objective helping the development of nanotechnology and promoting nanostructures for applications in modern information and communication technologies. Impressing results of the last century are summarized in the review

papers while new challenges of the XXI-st century are arising from the other original contributions. It is evident that even 100 years after the birth of Quantum Mechanics , we are still learning more and more about interaction between light and electrons in matter. The Constitution of what, we call "nanoworld", is formed by

quantum effects.

The papers in the book are arranged in traditional sections: Physics of Nanostructures, Chemistry of Nanostructures, Nanotechnology, and Nanostructure Based Devices. Both basic and applied researches are presented. Among different results characterizing our knowledge about the nanoworld, including attempts to use it for information processing, one can note an increased interest to quantum dot systems. Depending on the size, composition and spatial distribution of quantum dots they can behave like artificial atoms, either independent or interacting in a specific lattice. Such systems exhibit indeed astonishing properties promising the birth of new generations of electronic, optoelectronic and optical devices. The papers published in this book must be considered as preprinted notes, which will be enlightened at the Conference, in May 2001, where a detailed discussion of our understanding of the nanoworld is expected. We deeply acknowledge Sponsors who provided financial support for the Conference.