This lecture deals with some of the more important physical characteristics of relativistic heavy ions and their measurement, with beam delivery and beam monitoring, and with conventional radiation dosimetry as used in the operation of the BEVALAC biomedical facility for high energy heavy ions (Lyman and Howard, 1977; BEVALAC, 1977). Even so, many fundamental aspects of the interaction of relativistic heavy ions with matter, including important atomic physics and radiation chemical considerations, are not discussed beyond the reminder that such additional understanding is required before an adequte perspective of the problem can be attained.