Peering Into The Analytical Ciystal Ball
STU BORMAN · Chemical & Engineering News · 1997
In the field of analytical chemistry, according to chemistry professor M. Bonner Denton of the University of Arizona, Tucson, "what we would all like to have is the Mark I Magic Analyzer, into which you throw any kind of sample, tell it what you want to know about the sample, and it gives you the answer. "The next thing you want is a handheld unit," he said. "This has been widely acclaimed for many years on a popular TV show"—showing a photo of a tricorder, a portable instrument used on "Star Trek" for materials analysis and medical diagnosis. Tricorders may not have been available at the Pittcon '97 exposition, but presentations by Denton and four other speakers at a symposium on "The Future of Analytical Instrumentation" suggest that instrument vendors may be getting ever closer to that ideal. Before a standing-room-only audience, the presenters did their best to review the current status and divine the ...