The German Chemical Society's flagship scientific journal is celebrating its anniversary with Nobel Laureates and other luminaries
On the occasion of its 125th anniversary, the journal Angewandte
Chemie is treating its readers to a special issue, which contains no
less than 16 contributions from chemistry Nobel Laureates, and also a
symposium that will take place in Berlin in March and will feature three
Nobel Laureates. In its 125-year history, the journal has developed from
a magazine for the chemical industry in German-speaking countries
(that's where the name of the journal comes from: Angewandte Chemie
means "applied chemistry") to a modern global medium for fundamental
chemical research. Both the English and German editions are available
electronically, a form that has long since overtaken the printed issues.
The journal has always been owned by scientific societies, and since
1947 it has been in the hands of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker
(GDCh; German Chemical Society), in close cooperation with its
scientific publisher Wiley-VCH.
The first issue of the predecessor Zeitschrift für die chemische
Industrie was published on January 1, 1887 by Julius Springer Verlag
in Berlin. In 1888, the title was changed to Zeitschrift für Angewandte
Chemie. From 1921, the journal was published by Verlag Chemie
(Leipzig/Berlin), which has been known as Wiley-VCH since 1996, when it
became part of John Wiley & Sons. In the early 1960s, the decision was
taken to produce an English-language version of the journal in the form
of the International Edition. The challenges of the digital revolution
in the media world have been addressed with an electronic edition, which
goes right back to the first year of publication, as well as an iPad
App, to name only a couple of milestones. "Angewandte", as it is
popularly known, has become more and more international. Every day new
articles are published online that are collected to appear in 52 weekly
issues. Angewandte Chemie provides its readers with the most important
knowledge from all areas of chemistry, and all this not only in English,
but to some extent still also in German. Around 9500 articles were
received in 2012, of which 2500 from 38 countries were published on over
13000 pages. This is all currently accomplished by 21 editors, all PhD
chemists, from four countries, and 8 colleagues in administration and
production.
On the occasion of its birthday, Angewandte Chemie is publishing
a special issue at the beginning of 2013: 70 contributions from members
of the journal's Editorial and International Advisory Boards, and from
16 Nobel Laureates. The selection ranges from contributions on science
policy and history, autobiographical essays, interviews, and overview
articles, for example on independence from crude oil, the origin of
life, or the observation of molecular motion with an electron
microscope, to top original contributions from all possible areas of
chemistry, including insect pheromones, lithium batteries, resistance of
influenza viruses against neuraminidase inhibitors (Tamiflu!), and the
use of nanoparticles for imaging of bacterial growth. This anniversary
also calls for champagne and fireworks: in written form! The issue can
be accessed for free at http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/anie.v52.1.
On March 12, 2013, the anniversary will be celebrated in style: the
GDCh, Angewandte Chemie, and the publishers invite you to a
one-day anniversary symposium in Berlin. Lectures will be given by three
Nobel Laureates: Roald Hoffmann, Jean-Marie Lehn, and Ahmed Zewail, as
well as eight other renowned speakers. More details can be found at http://angewandte.org/symposium.
