The prominent role of chemical information in the development of western civilisation

The information concerning the objects, processes and phenomena in the world is perceived directly by our sensory organs. In spite of the excellent performance and quality especially of our organs of sight and hearing, the accessible ranges and dimensions of human recognition are limited. Chemical properties, representing chemical information, like composition or structure, are typical 'hidden properties', which can be perceived only indirectly. When composition is determined, physical quantities are measured, which are transformed-by calculations-to chemical quantities. In structure elucidation methods simultaneous measurements are usually required, and the transformation needs more demanding calculation methods. In the course of the development of sciences, the accessibility of information was strongly dependent on the performance of the available instruments, but also increasingly on statistical mathematical (chemometric) methods, by which the final interpretation of the data of measurements can be performed reliably. Chemical information-in its modem sense-is available for only about 250 years. Since then, however, they have had significant influence on the progress of sciences, and today they are indispensable in almost every fields of human activities. The limits of human recognition are not only dependent on the performance of the applied instruments, but also on the efficiencies of the chemometric methods. The new chemometric methods (PLS, ANN, etc.) are indispensable tools for the human efforts aimed at improving the conditions of life. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.