A complete handbook for analytical chemists which has been designed to stimulate fundamental research. The contributors cover aspects of both classical and modern analytical chemistry, as well as the scientific and instrumental fundamentals of analytical methods.

Izaak Maurits Kolthoff was a highly influential analytical chemist and chemical educator. He is widely considered the father of analytical chemistry for his large volume of published research. Philip Juliber Elving was a chemist who served on the faculty of Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, and most notably the University of Michigan, where he was the Hobart Willard Professor of Chemistry. He retired from Michigan, assuming professor emeritus status, in 1983.