The sixteenth annual symposium of the Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism was held in Bristol from 12th to 14th July, 1978. About 25 invited speakers and 150 participants came from many parts of Europe and North America to consider the topic, 'Inherited Disorders of Carbohydrate Metabolism'. Although some aspects of these disorders have formed part of the programme of previous symposia organized by the Socie­ ty, this was the first attempt to discuss them in a systematic manner. The subject, carbohydrate disorders, embraces both familiar and well documented conditions and some lesser known aspects of genetic disease. In all of these there remains much to be learnt about clinical and laboratory diagnosis, treatment, biochemical screening and pathogenesis. Thus one aim of the Society, to combine clinical and scientific interest, can rarely have been better achieved in a single symposium. Since the programme included diseases from six different areas of car­ bohydrate metabolism and contained so many distinguished speakers, it is impossible to highlight the more important aspects of this symposium within a short space. Each section made a notable contribution to knowledge and, when time was available, lively discussions ensued which have been recorded in the book. However, we wish to mention our two special lectures, because they recognise people to whom the Society owes a great deal. The Milner lecture has been given for the past 6 years as a tribute to Mr J.