Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 July 2016
This paper discusses the status of our knowledge regarding asteroid sizes and albedos. It presents a brief discussion of the methods used to determine sizes and albedos beginning with attempts using filar micrometers as early as 1802 and culminating with the 1993 publication of the IRAS Minor Planet Survey. It addresses the completeness and reliability of the IRAS Minor Planet Survey, summarizes the statistical adjustments made to the derived results, and considers the implications of those results.