1.3: Perspectives

The field of inorganic chemistry stands on the shoulders of giants (or in this case, many talented and dedicated scientists). If you are lucky enough to have journal access, peruse the titles and pages of the first issues of Inorganic Chemistry. You will find some lively debate about the puzzles of determining inorganic structure and reactivity. The scientists that made early discoveries in this field practiced elegant science.

The inorganic chemists who built our field are diverse. They are the ones who discovered new elements, developed new materials, characterized the fundamental principles of reactions, and developed the theories that we use to understand and predict metal structure and reactivity. And, there are people who are still working on these things today.

To gain more perspective on Inorganic Chemistry, compare the topics in the very first issue (Feb 1, 1962) to the most recent issue or the current most popular articles using the links below.

• The very first issue of Inorganic Chemistry from 1962: https://pubs.acs.org/toc/inocaj/1/1
• The latest issue of Inorganic chemistry: https://pubs.acs.org/toc/inocaj/current
• The most popular Inorganic Chemistry articles from the past month and the past year: https://pubs.acs.org/action/showMostReadArticles?journalCode=inocaj