Commission 27: Variable Stars:1 (Les Etoiles Variables)

For Commission 27 these triennial reports have traditionally been very compact literature reviews of all the fields relevant to our commission. For several triennia we have been discussing the relevance of them, and asking just who their readership is. It seems that only a few people read them, and fewer use them as introductions to the subject – supposedly one of their prime purposes. The major beneficiaries have been the writers, who have been forced to do three-year reviews of their subjects. The IAU EC gave us the option this triennium of a shorter, four-page report to which the majority of the SOC agreed.