Chemometrics

The members of the Laboratory for Chemometrics at the University of Washington are pleased to offer this fourth fundamental review of chemometrics to the analytical community. The review attempts to cover the period from December 1983 to December 1985. While the reader will find references herein that discuss a fairly wide variety of developments and applications of mathematical and statistical methods in chemistry, the primary focus of this review continues to be Analytical Chemometrics. Analytical chemistry has been called a science without a theory. Some say that the theories and principles of analytical chemistry have been handed down from other branches of science. Developments in chemometrics that are beginning to effect instrument design and specify the limits of analysis are shaping a foundation for this science. The authors of this review foresee a time when research in chemometrics will contribute to the design of new types of instruments, generate optimal experiments that yield maximum information, and catalog and solve calibration and signal resolution problems. All this while quantitatively specifying the limitations of each instrument as well as the quality of the data it generates. The computer is the most important tool in chemometrics. Personal computers with the power and sophistication of the Macintosh, IBM PC/AT and the DEC Micro VAX II will have a significant impact on all of chemistry in the future. 542 references.