Coordination chemistry at the turn of the century

Department of Chemistry, California State University, Fresno, CA 93740-8024, USA E-mail : georgek@csufresno.edu This historical overview is confined to the major discoveries in coordination chemistry, both experimental and theoretical, in the evolution of the discipline, and many interesting but minor events must necessarily be omitted. It is illustrative and selective rather than exhaustive, and I have had to omit many worthy contributions. Because earlier, more temporally distant works are probably less well known to you than are later works that are related more directly to your work, I shall deal with them in greater detail. Also, because science advances by eliminating erros, I have included a few unsuccessful Contributions. Furthermore, in keeping with my own interests, I have emphasized stereochemical contributions. I have included the countries of origin of some of the contributors to exphasize the international nature of science and of this conference. Werner's monumental achievements occupied a central role and dominated the first decades of the century. Even today they are still the basis for the latest developments. Therefore I shall treat his contributions in some depth