Puzzles, Progress, Prospects: pre-Summary for the Quark Matter 2009 Conference

Abstract

The new millennium's qualitative advances in relativistic heavy ion physics are in part due to, and are in part causing, a new appreciation for quantitative rigor in both experimental and theoretical work in the field. In these proceedings for the conference-opening "pre-Summary" talk I present an annotated guide to the figures and points made in my talk.