? Like many chemists who studied chemistry in the 20th century, my first contact with the chemistry lab was a practical course which used the book by Heinrich Biltz, Wilhelm Klemm and Werner Fischer simply referred to as the BKF. The intention of this book was to convey practical techniques and knowledge about materials through lab experiments, which were accompanied by instructive background information. Since the material fundamentals of inorganic chemistry have of course remained unchanged, this book has lost nothing of its value. As university professor, I still use excerpts from it in lab courses for first-semester students. Prof. Dr. Michael Ruck, TU Dresden"