Introduction: Magdolna Hargittai—Scientist

Abstract

This special issue of Structural Chemistry is a collection of papers in honor of Magdolna Hargittai (Magdi) on the occasion of her 70th birthday. When choosing the title of this Introduction we were hesitating whether to specify Magdi as a ‘‘Structural chemist,’’ an ‘‘Inorganic chemist,’’ or a ‘‘Woman chemist’’ as each of the attributes would be incomplete, because it would neglect her activities in the field of Symmetry, or the highly interesting Science History/Sociology. To describe all of these activities, the label ‘‘Scientist’’ remained as a singular choice, considered in the broadest sense. A detailed description of the most important achievements of Magdi is described in Istvan Hargittai’s paper: ‘‘Magdolna Hargittai’s Inorganic Structures,’’ so they will not be repeated here. The number of manuscripts received has exceeded our expectations, and this is a tribute to the outstanding and broad activities of Magdi. The broad scope of the contributions extending beyond the usual scope of this journal is especially valuable: While all of them are related to structural chemistry, some of them are particularly oriented to biology or physics. The most popular tools applied are gas electron diffraction and quantum chemical calculations, keeping with the main activities of Magdi. The inclusion of spectroscopic methods (microwave, IR, Raman, and NMR), X-ray crystallography, and bioand thermoanalytical methods guaranteed the comprehensive information for the chemical and biological systems investigated. Among the papers, there are review articles and some directly relevant to the works of Magdi, covering also personal aspects. Many of the authors are former students or co-workers (including the guest editors), and certainly many friends and colleagues from the broad field of structural chemistry. The contributing authors come from 12 countries and four continents. We are delighted that the authors range from Ph.D. students to the most experienced senior scientists of international reputation. This indicates that the achievements of Magdi are attracting not only current interest, but the effect of her works will be long lasting on the scientific community. We hope that Magdi will be pleased that among the authors and especially also among the corresponding authors there are many women scientists. In this respect, it is noteworthy that the underrepresentation of women among the leading scientists is often attributed to the time-consuming role of the woman in the family. Clearly, the harmonization of the family life with the scientific career is an issue, but Magdi has provided a brilliant example of how to manage it. The guest editors share their personal experience, extrapolating Magdi’s careful attention to the development of their own children, indicating that an internationally renowned scientist can still find the necessary time and energy for the human aspects of life, which are of utmost importance in raising a family. Together with the many contributors of this collected issue, we wish Magdi good health, a lot of interesting experience with science, colleagues, family, and grandchildren. & Laszlo Nyulaszi nyulaszi@mail.bme.hu