The efforts spent on many a scientific book cannot be justified, no matter how many words are said about it. The opposite is true for this book and a few brief remarks upon its publication. Within a short period of time, short even by all present standards, gel chromatography has gone through a development and experienced an acceptance that is unknown to any other method. From experience, the new and unique separation technique is today known and liked in all laboratories that are concerned with substances of high molecular weight; in others, the technique is known from hearsay, the least. Soon it became evident that a comprehensive coverage of the conceptual development, the theoretical principles, and the experimental technique of the new method would be desirable. This coverage is now offered by the book of an expert. Its author has personally participated in the development from its beginning and helped to promote it. He has made possible the gel chromatography, also of 'proteins, on thin layer plates; for lipophilic substances he has contributed considerably to the transition from water to organic solvent systems and developed theoretical concepts for a better understanding of the effects that are responsible for the separation. The book, so it appears to me, is pointing in new directions. The reader does not only expect a clear presentation of facts but also that of instructions for practical applications. Both these expectations have been met by the expert.

The efforts spent on many a scientific book cannot be justified, no matter how many words are said about it. The opposite is true for this book and a few brief remarks upon its publication. Within a short period of time, short even by all present standards, gel chromatography has gone through a development and experienced an accep tance that are unknown to any other method. From experience the new and unique separation technique is today known and liked in all laboratories that are concerned with substances of high molecular weight; in others, the technique is known from hearsay, at least. It has become evident that a comprehensive coverage of the conceptual development, the theoretical principles, and the experimental technique of the new method would be desirable. This coverage is now offered by the book of an expert. Its author has personally participated in the development from its beginning and has helped to promote it. He initiated gel chromatography of many substances, including proteins, on thin-layer plates; for lipophilic substances he has contributed considerably to the transition from water to organic solvent systems and developed theoretical concepts for a better understanding of the effects that are responsible for the separation. This book appears to me to point in new directions. The reader receives not only a clear presentation of facts but also instructions for practical applications.

Es gibt wissenschaftliche Biicher, die mit noch so vielen Worten in ihrem Arbeitsaufwand nicht gerechtfertigt werden konnen. Das Gegenteil trifft zu bei der Aufgabe, diesem Buch einige Worte mit auf den Weg zu schicken. In einer selbst fUr die heutigen Verhiiltnisse kurzen Zeitspanne hat die Gelchromatographie eine Entwicklung und Verbreitung erfahren, die man bisher kaum an einer anderen Methode beobachten konnte. Die neue, ori- ginelle Stofftrennung ist schon heute in allen Laboratorien, die sich mit hochmolekularen Substanzen beschaftigen, aus Erfahrung beliebt und ge- pries en, in den anderen wenigstens yom Horensagen bekannt. Trotzdem . hat sich allgemein sehr bald der Wunsch eingestellt, die geistige Entwick- lung, die theoretischen Grundlagen und die experimentelle Technik der neuen Methode in iibersichtlicher Weise prasentiert zu bekommen. Allen diesen Wiinschen wird das Buch eines Experten vollauf gerecht. Sein Ver- fasser hat die Entwicklung von Anfang an personlich mitgemacht und wei- tergetrieben. Er hat die Gelchromatographie, auch der Proteine, auf der Diinnschicht ermoglicht, fUr lipophile Substanzen den Obergang yom Was- ser ins organische Losungsmittelsystem mitbearbeitet und theoretische V or- stellungen zum Verstandnis der fiir die Trennung maBgebenden Effekte entwickelt. Das vorliegende Buch scheint mir sogar neue Wege anzuregen. Der Leser vedangt nicht nur eine klare Schilderung der V organge, sondern auch praktische Anweisungen. Beidem ist hier von der Seite des Fachmanns gedient.