Helmut Gunzler studied chemistry at the University of Stuttgart and at the Technical University of Braunschweig (both in Germany), where he also completed his PhD. He joined BASF in Ludwigshafen and became Head of the Analytics Department in 1972. In 1986 he started lecturing at the University of Innsbruck (Austria), where he was honored with an Honorary Professorship in 1986. After his retirement in 1990 he was engaged as an active and honorary member in different working groups, in particular he was concerned with accreditation and quality assurance within the area of analytical chemistry. With regard to the latter subject, valuable book contributions were published by him as author and co-editor. He was also the co-founder of the journal "Accreditation and Quality Assurance". After a scientifically active life, at the age of 78 Helmut Gunzler died on December 27th, 2004. Herbert Michael Heise studied chemistry, physics and mathematics at Kiel University (Germany), where he also completed his PhD in Physical Chemistry. He was a Research Associate at the School of Chemistry at The University of Western Australia in Perth as well as at the Institute of Physical Chemistry at Kiel University. He also worked as a research fellow at the Federal Biological Research Centre of Agriculture and Forestry and the German National Physical Laboratory, both in Braunschweig (Germany). From 1982 until 2010 he was a Senior Scientist at the Leibniz-Institute for Analytical Sciences, ISAS, formerly known as Institute of Spectrochemistry and Applied Spectroscopy at Dortmund University of Technology (Germany). Since 2003 he is an Adjunct Lecturer at the South-Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, Iserlohn. In 2009, the University appointed him to Honorary Professor. Currently, he is still engaged in teaching and research and acting as a co-editor of the journal "Vibrational Spectroscopy".

• INTRODUCTIONABSORPTION AND MOLECULAR DESIGNSPECTROMETERSSAMPLE PREPARATIONSPECIAL SAMPLE TECHNIQUESQUALITATIVE SPECTRAL INTERPRETATIONQUANTITATIVE SPECTRAL ASSERTIONSSPECTROSCOPY IN NEAR- AND FAR-INFRARED, AS WELL AS RELATED TECHNIQUESREFERENCE SPECTRA AND EXPERT SYSTEMSAPPENDIXINDEX