Fifty years of atomic absorption spectrometry

The history of atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) for the 50 years since the publication of the fundamental paper by Alan Walsh The application of atomic absorption spectra to chemical analysis is presented. The main steps in the development of flame and electrothermal AAS, from the original idea to its introduction as a well-known method of instrumental analysis, are followed. The current status of AAS and the possible directions of its further development are considered.__________Translated from Zhurnal Analiticheskoi Khimii, Vol. 60, No. 4, 2005, pp. 434–446.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Lvov.