analytical chemistry Editor: Herbert A. Laitinen EDITORIAL HEADQUARTERS 1155 Sixteenth St.. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Phone: 202-872-4570 Teletype: 710-8220151 Managing Editor: Josephine M. Petruzzi Associate Editor: Barbara Cassatt Associate Editor, Easton: Elizabeth R. Rufe Assistant Editor: Stuart A. Borman Editorial Assistants: Jacquelyn Danes, Ann M. Ramish Production Manager: Leroy L. Corcoran Art Director: John V. Sinnett Copy Editor: Gail M. Mortenson Advisory Board: L. S. Birks, Peter Carr. David Firestone, Kurt F. J. Heinrich, Philip F. Kane, Barry L. Karger, J. Jack Kirkland, Marvin Margoshes. Robert S. McDonald. James W. Mitchell, Royce W. Murray. Harry L. Pardue, Garry A. Rechnitz. Walter Slavin. John P. Walters Contributing Editor, Instrumentation: Andrew A. Husovsky Instrumentation Advisory Panel: Gary D. Christian, Catherine Fenselau. Gary M. Hieftje. Tomas Hirschfeld, Peter T. Kissinger. C. David Miller. Carter L. Olson, Sidney L. Phillips, Thomas H. Ridgway Regulations, Analytical Division Ad Hoc Committee: Robert A Libby (Chairman). Warren B. Crummett. William T. Donaldson. Donald T. Sawyer Contributing Editor: Claude A. Lucchesi Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston. Ill. 60201 Published by the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 1155 16th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Books and Journals Division Director: D. H. Michael Bowen Journals: Charles R. Bertsch Magazine and Production: Bacil Guile? Research and Development: Seldon W. Terrant
The Essence of Modern Analytical Chemistry Every chemist would agree that modern-day analytical chemistry differs radically from that of fifty years ago, and most would no doubt point to the introduction of a variety of instrumental measurements as the major difference. As striking as this difference is, it fails to get to the essence of what makes the modern approach different from the classical. Fifty years ago, the only question analysts sought to answer was the composition of matter, expressed as percentages of elements or compounds in a sample. Even today, one occasionally encounters such a narrow perception as to the goals of analysis, especially among those remote from the modern-day science. The fact is that as the capabilities of analytical science have improved, the demands placed upon it have correspondingly increased. T h e first change was toward increasingly demanding limits of detection and estimation of elements and compounds. But when the newer methods also proved capable of yielding information about oxidation state, crystal structure, coordination state, etc., this further depth of information soon became a requirement in special cases. When methods of high spatial resolution became available, the demands for such information grew. When methods of detecting transient, unstable, or unstable species in dynamic systems became available, the need for such information a t once emerged. Analysis of living systems, including complex organisms, is a t a research frontier today, but no doubt will be a routine demand some day. Thus instrumental approaches are merely the means to an end, namely for more detailed information in more complex systems, rather than being the heart of the analytical process. What, then, marks the essential change from the relatively simple past of years ago? Analysis can now be more accurately described as being applied to a problem, rather than to a sample. To be sure, sampling is an important and often neglected part of the analytical process, but we really are interested in the problem the sample represents rather than the sample itself. T o achieve these new goals of information, analytical chemists need increasingly detailed understanding of the system under observation as well as the measurement devices. T h e essence of the modern approach is a quest for fundamental understanding of a problem rather than an empirical determination of composition.
Circulation DeveloDment: Marion Gurfein Manuscript requirements are published in the January 1979 issue, page 17 1. Manuscripts for publication ( 4 copies) should be submitted to ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY at the ACS Washington address. 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.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 51, NO. 13, NOVEMBER 1979
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