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ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
There is another way of looking at the situation. Mellon (18) described the older analytical chemistry as consisting of separation preceding determination: separation usually involving chemistry, determination being based on physics. If we adopt characterization as the essence of modern analytical chemistry, then separation needs replacing by the broader preparation, a change made necessary by the decreasing emphasis on ascertaining composition. Two trends are noticeable: toward less chemistry in the preparation, and toward less preparation prior to the determination, determinations being made more and more upon the original sample. These trends are nothing new—witness the characterization of polymers. Separations involve less and less the actual handling of welldefined chemical compounds—witness chromatography of all kinds, and the use of ion-exchange resins. The 1962 review of x-ray methods (15) contains 81 references to the determination of iron by x-ray emission spectrography. In almost three fourths of these cases, sample preparation did not involve chemical treatment. Elving (8) has indicated that organic analysis will not escape the revolution in analytical chemistry. Organic analysis carried out on a large scale may be the first to feel the impact of a new concept the computer has made possible (22). This is the concept of an "analytical spectrum," which is a new name for a set of determinations intended to characterize a sample. The computer lets us choose such a set relatively unhampered by considerations such as cumbersomeness in calculating results, lack of specificity in the determinations, added cost of redundant measurements, and absence of linear response. I t is good to know that our 1962 Summer Symposium will deal with applications of computers in analytical chemistry. Analytical Chemistry as a Services Activity
Analytical chemistry enjoyed a golden age when chemistry was young. But let us listen to W. F.
