Astrophysics in 1993

After the astronomical excitements of 1991 and 1992, 1993 was frankly a bit of a letdown. More papers by more people were submitted and published than ever before (and this review has twice as many authors as the previous ones). Nevertheless, there seem to have been fewer large, definitive steps. As a result, we have focussed on a handful of broad terrains for which the maps have improved, including stellar rotation and mass loss, dynamics of globular clusters, and quasar absorption lines, but have also highlighted many more of the small steps by which astronomy advances toward inventorying and understanding the universe. As a consequence, the ordering of topics is less obvious from near to far than in 1991 and 1992. And the potential for misattributions and unjustifiable neglect is probably somewhat larger. (SECTION: Invited Review Papers)