"Data Analysis" in the broadest sense is the general term for a field of activities of ever-increasing importance in a time called the information age. It covers new areas with such trendy labels as, e.g., data mining
or web mining as well as traditional directions emphazising, e.g., classification or knowledge organization. Leading researchers in data analysis have contributed to this volume and delivered papers on aspects ranging from
scientific modeling to practical application. They have devoted their latest contributions to a book edited to honor a colleague and friend, Hans-Hermann Bock, who has been active in this field for nearly thirty years.