The organization of this Symposium had its beginnings at the International Astronomical Union General Assembly in Grenoble in 1976. The initial "rounding up" of the Scienti- fic Organizing Committee was begun by Drs. Snow and Swings; most of us who became the eventual organizing committee met a few times during the Assembly and formulated the essential outlines of the meeting. Extensive correspondence with all the committee subsequently established the program. The idea was to bring together both observers and theoreticians to discuss the stellar winds and mass loss rates and their effects on...