This book is based on the contributions to the IFAC-Workshop "Mass Spectro metry in Biotechnological Process Analysis and Control" held in Graz, Austria from 23 to 24 October 1986. The idea to organize this workshop and further to prepare these proceedings was stimulated by the following facts. Biotechnological processes urgently need better on-line instrumentation. Mass spectrometry (MS) offers a great potential to especially analyse gases and volatile compounds. It is, however, considered that this potential by far is not exhausted. The main reason for this is that MS often still is considered to be a very expensive technique requiring the permanent attention of a MS expert. In addition methods have not yet been developed to a user friendly state. On-line MS-methods are available to a certain extent, but need further development. To stimulate such development an interdisciplinary effort is necessary. Needs of industrial and university users and experience of physicists and instrument manufacturers have to be brought into a hopefully fruitful discussion. An introductory article describes the bioprocess background including a brief summary of the state of the art in bioprocess sensor and parameter estimation development, and the potential MS offers for bioprocess monitoring. In the first chapter on "Instrumentation and Gas Analysis" a general overview on some developments in MS-instrumentation is given initially by Schmid. Then the presently available instrumentation for bioprocess monitoring is discussed by instrument manufacturers (Winter; Schaefer and Schultis; Bartman).

Measuring Mass: From Positive Rays to Proteins is part of a celebration of fifty years of the Annual Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics. As such, it is intended not only for practitioners of mass spectrometry but also for the lay reader interested in knowing more about the field. Many who practice the art and science of mass spectrometry are unaware of how the technique is applied outside their particular area of expertise. This short exposition will provide the practitioner and lay reader alike with an appreciation for the diverse applications of mass spectrometry in present-day scientific endeavors. Measuring Mass is also intended to celebrate the major events in the history of mass spectrometry. While a complete history of the field would require a tome of much greater size, this book provides a flavor of how mass spectrometry developed from an early-20th-century curiosity of the physics laboratory into the powerful analytical tool of today. The intertwined stories of advances in the technology and instrumentation of mass spectrometry with the demand to extend the tool to more complex analytical problems are explored in chapters on applications in geology, chemistry, biology, pharmaceuticals, space, the environment and forensic science.