analytical chemistry July 1976, Vol. 48, No. 8 Editor; Herbert A. Laltinen EDiTORlAL HEADQUARTERS 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Phone: 202-872-4570 Teletype: 710-8220151 Managing Editor: Josephine M. Petruzzi Associate Editor: Andrew A. Husovsky Associate Editor, Easton: Elizabeth R. Rufe Assistant Editor: Nancy J. Oddenino Editorial Assistants: Barbara Cassatt, Deborah M. Cox Production Manager: Leroy L. Corcoran Associate Manager: Charlotte C. Sayre Artist: Diane Reich Advisory Board Donald H. Anderson, Edward G. Brame, Jr., Richard P. Buck, Warren B. Crurnmett, Merle A. Evenson, Velmer Fassel, A. F. Findeis, Robert A. Hofstader, Marjorie G. Horning, Richard S.Juvet, Jr., Lynn L. Lewis, Harry 8. Mark, Jr., Walter C. McCrone, Eugene A. Sawicki, W. D. Shults Instrumentation Advlsory Panel: Stanley R. Crouch, Nathan Gochman, Robert W. Hannah, Gary Horlick, James N. Little, Harold M. McNair, David Seligson, R. K. Skogerboe, Donald E. Smith Contributing Editor: Claude A. Lucchesi Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, 111. 60201 Published by the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 1155 16th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Books and Journals Divlsion Director: D. H. Michael Bowen Editorial: Charles R. Bertsch Graphics and Production: Bacil Guiley Research and Development: Seldon W. Terrant Circulation Development; Marion Gurfein Manuscript requirements are published in the December 1975 issue, Page 2525. Manuscripts for publication (4 copies) should be submitted to ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY at the ACS Washington address.
Japan RevisitedSome IO-Year Trends In the analytical research laboratory, the most apparent change during the past decade is in instrumentation. Classical polarography was introduced very early in Japan, with the invention of the HeyrovskyShikata Polarograph in 1925. By 1966, commercial electroanalytical instrumentation, including several forms of ac polarography, coulometric and titrimetric equipment, etc., was quite common. Today’s equipment shows more innovation on the part of individual research workers to construct and assemble components specifically for their own needs using such devices as the operational amplifier. Minicomputers are becoming commonplace, although the microprocesser has not yet generally emerged. Optical equipment has greatly improved in abundance and sophistication. Specialized large instrumentation such as NMR, GC-MS, SEM, and ESCA are now much more in evidence, sometimes in analytical research groups and sometimes shared with others. Even of greater significance than the outer trappings is the trend towards more fundamental research, especially in the “applied” departments such as engineering, agriculture, and pharmacy that have chairs of analytical chemistry. Interdisciplinary work between analytical chemists and other scientists, notably in environmental research and in biomedical areas, has also shown a marked increase in emphasis. Recently the Ministry of Education has increased its support of research in private institutions by providing specific grants-in-aid. This program, it is hoped, will alleviate some of the imbalance between public and private institutions. Innovative new centers, such as the Instrumental Analysis Research Center at the University of Kyoto and the Environmental Research Center a t Yokohama National University, are emerging. In some universities and faculties, the younger investigator is becoming more independent in the choice and execution of research problems, whereas in others the tradition of the authoritarian professor still persists. The influence of foreign training, especially of postdoctoral work in the USA, is increasingly evident. The ties thus created with foreign scientists are proving to be lasting ones. Programs such as the US-Japan Cooperative Science Program are proving effective in fostering a deeper personal understanding between the participating scientists as well as in meeting the primary objective of supporting the research itself.
The American Chemical Society and its editors assume no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by contributors. Views expressed in the editorials are those of the editors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the American Chemical Society. Advertising Management: Centcom. Ltd. (for Branch Offices, see page 676 A) ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 48, NO. 8, JULY 1976
1097
