THIS year, Pergamon BPCC Publishing Corporation celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the founding of Pergamon Press, while on June 10, 1988, the founder of Pergamon, ROBERT MAXWELL, will celebrate his 65th birthday. Both landmarks invite to casting a few glances backwards and forwards. I do this as Editor-in-Chief of Spectrochimica Acta, Part B, Atomic Spectroscopy, one of the about 400 Pergamon journals, which have served and “made” science and scientists in the past years. Having this last statement in mind I passed my thoughts over some interactions between the “world” of the Publisher and the “world” of Scientists. A scientific research project begins with the publications that form the basis of new ideas and ends with the publications in which the development and elaboration of these ideas are recounted. Very often, the latter publications, in turn, form the foundations of further ideas and prompt the initiation of a subsequent cycle. Accordingly, publications play a crucial role in science. Internal reports within the closed communities of industrial or government organizations have a similar function and differ from open publications chiefly by their limited distribution and restricted accessibility. Patents occupy a special position in the communication network. A common goal of publications and reports is the promotion of scientific and/or technological advancement. If that were their only aim, we might devise a communication network differing from the present one using scientific journals. Computer networks involving bare databases and clearinghouses might appear more efficient .means for data exchange. Technically the realization of such networks would not meet major problems. However, would it work? I’m afraid that the answer is “No”, at least for the open scientific community. The main reason is that science is not made by an ensemble of robots, but by a community of scientists, who want to exchange not only data, results, and ideas but also feelings. A well conceived scientific publication tells what was done, how it was done, why it was done, and what it adds to the existing knowledge. In addition, however, it shows who did it. It may show the latter by the mere statement of the name(s) of the author(s) or it may reveal this more emphatically by the author’s style of working and writing. A publication may illustrate the author’s concern with the problem which intrigued him and to the solution of which he intended to contribute. A publication is the last stage of a sequence of creative processes to which a scientist is excited. Writing a publication is the concluding phase in which the facts are summed up, critically examined, interrelated, and interpreted. It also is the phase in which the author is confronted with a ruthless sieve, the phase in which the author has to show his colours. When the author has won this struggle and his work has eventually also passed the sieves and traps set up by the referees and the editor, he finally enjoys the satisfaction of seeing his work in printed form as a lasting document, which testifies to his prestige as a scientist. It is by the publication of his work that a scientist communicates with his colleagues, demonstrates his capabilities, establishes his reputation, puts a personal stamp on the development of science, and is rewarded by satisfaction and recognition. This brief analysis of the multiple purpose of scientific publications implicitly stresses the paramount role of ROBERT MAXWELL as the Founder of Pergamon Press. By creating and expanding an empire of scientific journals, which answer the needs of authors and readers, ROBERT MAXWELL has put a heavy and permanent stamp on the development of science and the unfolding of the creativity of scientists. This is one out of a multitude of ROBERT MAXWELL’S achievements as an entrepreneur: an accomplishment with a very special