Introduction

The original impetus for the current volume was a paper presented by one of the editors at a symposium entitled "Safer Chemicals Through Molecular Design" that was sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Subsequently, the publisher suggested that the paper in question, "Development of Safer Insecticides" [1], provide the starting point for a book of the same or similar title. This introductory chapter is based on that communication, and the book that follows is our attempt to organize a single volume approach to this important subject.