| Abstract | With the information overload we experience today, it is imperative to pause occasionally in order to take stock of the progress in one’s chosen field of research and also to identify new trends and emerging areas. Yet, in order to look ahead, it is often useful to scrutinize the past. Clearly, those of us active in the natural sciences are much less aware of the historical value of our professional records than are our colleagues in the arts and humanities, where the preservation of personal records has always been recognized as necessary. It is true that most of our scientific contributions are documented explicitly in journal publications; however, these reveal little about the circumstances under which the work was carried out or about the personal motivations and the historical background that led to the final product as we know it today. Moreover, the historical perspective also introduces a human element into the austere science. Long gone are the days when scientists like Justus Liebig began their scientific reports with “Today is a lovely, sunny April day.” Editorial pressures for conciseness, along with stiff publication charges, have forced most scientific papers into a clipped telegraphic style. If one is curious about the human interests behind the research, one has to rely on personal contacts with the people themselves (and, although the Internet provides almost unlimited access to a wealth of scientific data, it is these personal contacts with the people themselves (and, although the Internet provides almost unlimited access to a wealth of scientific data, it is these personal contacts that most often enable one’s scientific and personal development). As one involved in biospectroscopy for the last 40 years, I shall attempt to take such a retrospective look at the marriage between vibrational spectroscopy and biological molecules from a more personal perspective. |
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