Molecular spectrometry—milestones for the millennium

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of selected aspects of molecular spectrometry in terms of milestone developments from which conclusions about the future development of the subject can be drawn. The paper discusses these in terms of technological, phenomenal and applications milestones. Subjects such as photothermal spectrometry, bioluminescence, and clinical applications of near-infrared spectrometry are seen as exciting developments together with a trend towards miniaturised analytical instrumentation. Longer term predictions about single molecule/particle detection, FT-NIR and terahertz spectrometry are also made.