Analytical Chemistry — today's definition and interpretation

Conclusion Analytical Chemistry, as we have seen, is quite an established science but also a very vivid and young one. Its boundaries have always been and will be at the very frontiers of natural science: we are approaching the detection of single atoms as well as the analysis of matter at the very fringes of our universe. Analytical Chemistry is essential for the development of taylor-made high-tech materials and equally for the evolution of our knowledge about the toxicity of elements and compounds. It needs specialists with a profound insight in certain fields, for methods development or the handling of very complex instrumentation as e.g. a high resolution secondary ion mass spectrometer. But it also needs allrounders with a broad view not only of the capability of Analytical Chemistry as a whole but with an understanding for the complexity of modern social and economic structures. Frequently new ideas, new concepts and progress are forming on the seams between disciplines, on the grain boundaries of scientific fields too often kept strictly separated from each other. Analytical Chemistry is certainly a discipline which is predestinated for scientific communication collaborating with practically all fields of natural science as well as politics and economics.As a branch of natural science it is neutral in its moral value and therefore needs responsible and courageous analysts to use it for the benefit of mankind.