date: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 19:01:19 -0700 from: "Malcolm Hughes" subject: state of the art to: paolo.cherubini@wsl.ch, k.briffa@uea.ac.uk, Martin.Beniston@unifr.ch Gentlemen, Please find attached the very latest, extremely rough, and unreferenced version of the printed version of this talk. Keith: I hope this is of some help. Clearly, I will not be able to cover so much ground in the spoken presentation - I will certainly not just read this - I wouldn't be able to stay awake myself. In order to try to keep the audience, and myself, awake, I will emphasize the angle of " where do we stand now that someone else gives a damn?" My hope is that this will not provide an opportunity for self-flagellation, but rather will set the scene for discussion of how we can do even better in creative and convincing ways. I also intend to use examples and graphics in the talk. I do intend, after extensive discussions with Steve Leavitt and his group, to extend the coverage of isotopes, not so much in the context of their obvious lack of significant contribution so far, at least in the context I set here, but in terms of exciting new possibilities arising from recent work. If you can discern, even in the 16 pages of disjunct rambling attached, something wildly factually incorrect, or something vital missing, please let me know quickly (what nerve that Hughes has!). Cheers, Malcolm Malcolm Hughes Professor of Dendrochronology Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 520-621-6470 fax 520-621-8229