Michael J. Tessalone

LCGC's global online presence is an ever-growing aspect of this publication as we strive to bring our readers the knowledge they need in a timely manner.

To the members of LCGC's readership, the science behind the headlines is always apparent. Separation science in general, and chromatography in particular, find application in nearly every facet of everyday life, from pharmaceutical analysis to the biomedical field to environmental testing, and this Application Notebook is a tribute to just how thoroughly separation science permeates our daily lives.

Traditionally, summer is a time when the worlds of lab research and business slow down to a large extent. If you work in academia, chances are many of your students have returned home for the summer and the teaching load has been reduce, while those of you working in private industry and research labs may see coworkers taking long-anticipated (and well-deserved) vacations.

There is an old axiom, attributed to various individuals, that holds: "Luck favors the prepared." This can apply to nearly any endeavor or project in life, as generally speaking, the harder you work, the more likely it is that good things will happen.

It is no secret that these are tumultuous times we live in. With the economic slowdown, increased dangers abroad, and the recent string of scares involving toxins in everyday foods, there is no shortage of things to worry about in today's world. At LCGC, we've always felt that our Application Notebook is a reflection of not just the recent developments in chromatography and the field of separation science in general, but the world as a whole.

The chance to have everyone you might e-mail or call on the phone in one place makes this conference critical

They say that timing is everything, and though this saying may have originally been applied to Broadway and Vaudeville in the early twentieth century, it is just as true when it comes to the field of modern-day separation science. For this September issue of The Application Notebook should be reaching our audience of analytical chemists, lab managers, and other industry professionals just as the busiest time of the year ramps up in the world of chromatography.

Like any other segment of the world economy, current events and the realities of the world around us go a long way toward shaping the direction of chromatographic research and development, and consequently, the financial trends that have a direct impact on the industry in which we all live and work. In this sense, the LCGC Application Notebook has become something of a market barometer over the years.