Welcome to the first issue of The Analytical Scientist. Our aim is to provide you with useful, credible and stylish content, and a forum for interaction, in print and online. Analytical science demands such a forum. It is the engine that drives some of the most significant areas of basic science and it plays a key role in ensuring safe water, food security, effective medicines and diagnostics, efficient and sustainable energy, and the necessary tools for forensics and national security. Analytical science is central to our lives, as scientists and as citizens, and it deserves to be recorded, scrutinized and celebrated.

Four characteristics set The Analytical Scientist apart:
First, it will tell stories. We will cover analytical science in part by delving into the hopes, fears, motivations and aspirations of the key figures in the field. Only through exploring why analytical scientists do what they do can we gain a full understanding of the subject.
Second, it will adopt a solutions-based approach. This reflects the fact that analytical science is no longer just a series of individual techniques, but a group of integrated and complementary methods.
Third, it will address professional development in addition to science, technology and business topics. We will offer advice aimed at senior researchers and managers in the analytical sciences, focusing on such issues as how to manage your career, how to promote innovation within your team and how to run an efficient lab.
Fourth, it will endeavor to engage the entire community. The content that we publish and post is a starting point, not an end point. We want your feedback, your suggestions and your submissions. From this, a network of ideas, debate and personal interactions will emerge that connects and enhances research, and helps industry to tune new products, services and applications. You can enjoy the The Analytical Scientist magazine in print and in digital versions optimized for computer, tablet and smartphone. Online, at www.theanalyticalscientist.com, we will be developing a rich array of additional content, much of it interactive, including debates and discussions, podcasts and videos, an application notes library and webinars. We at The Analytical Scientist are tremendously excited by this undertaking. Our success will be measured in how well we serve you, the analytical sciences community, so please don’t hesitate to let us know what you like, what you don’t and what you want to see us cover. It’s your publication.
Richard Gallagher
Editorial Director
