This monograph-like state-of-the-art survey presents the history, the key ideas, the success stories, and future challenges of performance evaluation and demonstrates the impact of performance evaluation on a variety of different areas through case studies in a coherent and comprehensive way. Leading researchers in the field have contributed 19 cross-reviewed topical chapters competently covering the whole range of performance evaluation, from theoretical and methodological issues to applications in numerous other fields. Additionally, the book contains one contribution on the role of performance evaluation in industry and personal accounts of four pioneering researchers describing the genesis of breakthrough results. The book will become a valuable source of reference and indispensable reading for anybody active or interested in performance evaluation.