EDITORIAL Information visualization is growing

I am delighted to introduce this double issue of the journal of Information Visualization (IVS). This is also the completion of the first volume of a young and ambitious journal. It comes at the time when we are witnessing a number of encouraging signs of the growth of information visualization as a field of study and as a scientific community. Never has there been so many researchers, practitioners, students, and vendors who are so involved in information visualization. They are studying information visualization and solving real-world problems with information visualization, not only as visually appealing tools but also as a way of thinking. The journal’s submission rate has been increasing steadily and so has the quality. Figure 1 shows that, as of the end of October 2002, IVS has received submissions from eight countries. This would not have been possible without the extensive support from our dedicated editorial board members and our diligent peers in this vibrant community. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you. In this issue we acknowledg