Analytica—A Journal of Analytical Chemistry and Chemical Analysis

Back in 1894, Wilhelm Ostwald defined analytical chemistry as “the art of recognizing different substances and determining their constituents”, which “occupies a prominent position among the applications of science, since the questions it allows us to answer arise wherever chemical processes are used for scientific or technical purposes”. In 1993, the Working Party of Analytical Chemistry (WPAC), held in Edinburgh, UK, stated that analytical chemistry “is that scientific discipline that develops and applies methods, tools and strategies to obtain information on the composition and nature in space and time”. Nowadays, these definitions remain very modern and, above all, they are reflected in an uncountable number of application sectors, ranging from biology, geology, environmental sciences, agricultural chemistry, physics, engineering, medicine, and materials science, to social sciences and, of course, in chemistry itself. Often, this discipline is relegated into a corner and considered merely a support for other subjects; this, however, is without realizing that without it and, above all, without its principles, theories, and tools, nothing could make any applicative or rational sense.