Helmut Werner - Böcker

Since the discovery of ferrocene and the sandwich-type complexes, the development of organometallic chemistry took its course like an avalanche and became one of the scientific success stories of the second half of the twentieth century. Based on this development, the traditional boundaries between inorganic and organic chemistry gradually disappeared and a rebirth of the nowadays highly important field of homogeneous catalysis occurred. It is fair to say that despite the fact that the key discovery, which sparked it all off, was made more than 50 years ago, organometallic chemistry remains a young and lively discipline.

Since the discovery of ferrocene and the sandwich-type complexes, the development of organometallic chemistry took its course like an avalanche and became one of the scientific success stories of the second half of the twentieth century. Based on this development, the traditional boundaries between inorganic and organic chemistry gradually disappeared and a rebirth of the nowadays highly important field of homogeneous catalysis occurred. It is fair to say that despite the fact that the key discovery, which sparked it all off, was made more than 50 years ago, organometallic chemistry remains a young and lively discipline.

This supplement of Mikrochimica Acta contains selected papers from the Fourth Workshop of the European Microanalysis Society (EMAS) on "Modern Develop- ments and Applications in Microbeam Analysis" which took place in May 1995 in Saint Malo (France). EMAS was founded in 1986 by members from almost all european countries in order to stimulate research, applications and development of all forms of microbeam methods. One important EMAS activity is the organisation of biennial workshops for demonstrating the current status and developing trends of microanalytical techniques. For this meeting, EMAS chose to highlight the following topics: Monte-Carlo simula- tions, transport calculations and use of soft X-rays for electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), detection of small quan- tities using different techniques: synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence, particle in- duced X-ray emission (PIXE), cathodoluminescence microscopy (CL). Two new kinds of instrumental techniques were also presented: atomic probe and scanning probe microscopy (STM).The aim of the conference is to give introductory lectures corresponding to the topics of the meeting and to have contributions in the form of po- ster sessions. More than 80 posters were presented. Most of them gave a short oral pre- sentation. The poster subjects were related to the use of microanalytical techniques: EPMA with wavelength dispersive spectrometry (WDS) and energy dispersive spec- trometry (EDS), Auger electron spectrometry (AES), secondary ion mass spectro- metry (SIMS), scanning electron microscopy and other topographical methods like scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) or atomic force microscopy (AFM).

Helmut Werner, selbst ein anerkannter Anorganiker, beleuchtet in seinem Buch die Entwicklung der anorganischen Chemie in Deutschland von den ersten wirklich wissenschaftlichen Schritten im frühen 19. Jahrhundert bis hin zu den modernen Forschungsthemen des beginnenden 21. Jahrhunderts. Dabei stehen stets die Wissenschaftler im Vordergrund, die mit ihren Leistungen und Schwerpunktsetzungen die wissenschaftliche Landschaft über ihren Tod hinaus geprägt haben. Dem Autor gelingt es so, die Geschichte einer Wissenschaft lebendig werden zu lassen.

Dieses Buch über gewöhnliche Differentialgleichungen ist aus einem Kurs für die Fernhochschule Hagen hervorgegangen, an dem seinerzeit auch Herr Dr. P. Janßen mitgearbeitet hatte. Ziel des damaligen Kurses war es, den Studenten, die ihrer Natur nach nicht so häufig persönlichen Kontakt mit der Hochschule haben, eine Einführung in die Theorie und Praxis der gewöhnlichen Differentialgleichungen in einer Form zu geben, die dem häuslichen Selbststudium entgegenkommt. Dieses Konzept wurde auch in der vorliegenden Darstellung beibehalten. Jedoch kann man bei einer solchen Intention nicht erwarten, daß alle Aspekte der gewöhnlichen Differentialgleichungen auch nur annähernd angesprochen werden können. Dem Leser, der an weiterführenden Themen wie z.B. "Periodische Lösungen" oder "Verzweigungstheorie" interessiert ist, soll das Literaturverzeichnis helfen. Leider hat Herr Werner die endgültige Fertigstellung dieses Buches nicht mehr erleben können - er verstarb im November 1985. Aus der engen Zusammenarbeit mit ihm kann ich jedoch sagen, daß ihm die Anfertigung dieses Buches mit seinem Thema und seiner didaktischen Ausrichtung ein besonderes Anliegen war und er bis zuletzt stets mit Freude daran gearbeitet hat.

Organic Synthesis via Organometallics is an interdisciplinary project sponsored by the Volkswagen Stiftung to stimulate research and discussion of advances in the field. To improve international communication , leading experts are invited to regular symposia. In this volume, 17 lectures presented at the second symposium in Wurzburg, October 1988, are collected. From the topics covered it complements the previous volume, edited by A. de Meijere and H. tom Dieck.

In 1990, the SFB (Sonderforschungsbereich) entitled "Selektive Reaktionen Metall-aktivierter Moleküle" was established at the University of Würzburg to promote efficient cooperation between various fields of chemistry and physics. An essential ingredient of this interdisciplinary research project is the periodic holding of meetings in order to present actual results and recent trends in organometallic chemistry and related areas. The third international symposium was held at the Chemical both from academia and industry. In plenary lectures provided by reputated invited scientists and posters contributed by the members of the SFB 347 a broad spectrum of actual results obtained in selective metal catalysis, organometallic synthesis, bioorganic reactions, physico-chemical and theoretical studies on organometallic compounds and intermediates has been covered. This volume presents a useful insight in the recent trends and will stimulate further progress in the field.