| Abstract: | We review the present knowledge on the cosmological evolution of quasars, by discussing some of the recent results obtained from studies of optically selected objects. Despite the fast development of prism survey tecniques, the color selection still appears to be the best tecnique for constructing the complete samples which are necessary for statistical studies. It is shown, however, that even the best available complete samples of quasars selected on the basis of ultraviolet excess (z < 2.2) are not sufficient to univocally determine the “correct” evolutionary model. Moreover, some preliminary results suggest that the evolution law derived from quasars with mB<20 and z<2.2 can not be extrapolated to fainter magnitudes and higher redshifts. On the basis of what is known today about the optical and X-ray properties of quasars, we then discuss some of teh possible results, relevant to cosmology, which can be achieved with future coordinated optical and X-ray observations of quasars. |
