Alzheimer's disease (AD), first described by Alois Alzheimer in 1906, is a combination of neuropathological processes, which is devastating the world socially and economically. The distinct neuropathological observations are the senile plaques, composed predominantly of the amyloid-beta protein, and the neurofibrillary changes (threads and tangles), made of hyperphosphorlyated micro-tubule associate protein tau. Autosomal-dominant genetic factors can cause AD under 60 years of age, and Apo-lipo-protein E factors are strongly related to risk after age 60. AD affects basic neuronal plasticity mechanisms leading to relentless loss of memory function that causes insidious and progressive dementia. Recent conceptualizations have emphasized the progression of AD from the earliest abnormal preclinical changes, through appearances of memory and other cognitive impairments, leading to losses of function associated with dementia. This brief summary introduces a compendium of articles on AD which examines the advances in the science, engineering, and technology of imaging the brain to better understand and diagnose AD and develop treatments and cures. This introduction emphasizes the primary importance of understanding pathology, pathophysiology, and causation, genetic and environmental. The approaches described in this compendium are arranged according to widely used practices, including structural and functional imaging techniques as well as electro-magneto-encephalography and magnetic resonance spectroscopy, with additional chapters focusing on vascular factors, techniques for assessing longitudinal change, and multi-modal integration for the future. Advances in brain imaging hold the promise to contribute understanding of AD for development of therapies to prevent the disease at its earliest stages, halt its progression, and reverse its dementia.