This subvolume B (1) provides in Part I an overview of the quantum transport effects discovered during the last two decades of the 20th century, irrespective of the material. In Parts II and III, quantum points contacts and quantum wires, respectively, based only on semiconducting systems are considered. The book is part of the series of Landolt-Bornstein volumes which summarize our present knowledge of the phenomena of mesoscopic quantum systems with spatial extensions between those of atoms and ordinary macroscopic solids. At low temperatures, they are said to become quantum mechanically coherent with states that extend over the whole system.