Comment on Spectroscopic Nomenclature

Abstract

A report by Leopold May in Applied Spectroscopy (AS) summarized the basic units and prefixes of the Systeme International d'Unites (SI), the most recently recommended spectroscopic terms and units of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), and other terms and units in common use that originated some years ago in the report of the Joint Committee on Applied Spectroscopy (JCAS), some of which also appear in the nomenclature list of Committee E-13 on Molecular Spectroscopy of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). In a footnote, the Editor of AS stated that adherence to this nomenclature will be obligatory for authors after 1 January 1974 and authors were again so instructed in the first issue for 1974 where the same nomenclature was reprinted verbatim. When I was editor of AS, I supported standardization of nomenclature and, as a teacher, I stress it in classes in spectrochemical analysis. However, nomenclature, like all language, is a living, growing thing and lists of recommended or required nomenclature should be continually restudied for possible revision. There are items in the list that, in my opinion, deserve reconsideration.