The symposium "Recent Advances in Scanning Probe Microscopy of Polymers" held during the 220th American Chemical Society National Meeting in Washington DC in August 2000 focused on the latest advances in applications of SPM techniques for the study of polymeric and organic materials. The main topics consisted of SPM imaging of polymer morphology and microstructure, microtribological properties of polymers, micromechanical probing of polymers, microthermal imaging, studies of ultrathin and molecular organic and polymeric films, modeling of tip-surface interactions, chemical compositional analysis of heterogeneous materials, and SPM applications to industrial polymers. This volume of Macromolecular Symposia will be a valuable guide in the field of contemporary SPM studies of polymeric materials.