New Talent; Inspiration for the future

This editorial is being written on the 5^th November—known as Guy Fawkes' night, or Bonfire night, in the UK. On this date we commemorate the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when the restorationists tried to displace Protestant rule by blowing up the Houses of Parliament, with King James I and a large number of the aristocracy and nobility inside. The plot failed, and Guy Fawkes was executed for treason, but every year as we build bonfires and let off fireworks, at least a few of us wonder if the sights enthuse a new generation of chemists in the crowds of children.

This themed issue of Dalton Transactions may not contain fireworks or treasonous ideas, but it certainly contains a range of articles by enthusiastic and excellent young academics. The Dalton Transactions Editorial Board have allowed the younger chemists to take over! I owe thanks to the Editorial Office for their swift and efficient handling of the large volume of manuscripts that we received, and I congratulate all the authors for their interesting contributions.

I hope that reading the articles, you will appreciate the broad church that inorganic chemistry is these days. I invited a number of chemists working at the edges of what one might consider inorganic chemistry to submit some of their interesting new work, and I think this has been a success. As with all Dalton Transactions themed issues, we also issued a general call for younger academics to put their work forward for publication in this issue—the bravery this requires is certainly a requisite skill for a young academic in any country these days.

The interest in this issue already has prompted the Editorial Board to consider running another themed issue of this type in the future, and I hope that many more of the younger readership will consider contributing a Communication, Full Paper, or Perspective when the call appears. Keep your eye on the Dalton Transactions webpage, and in the meantime, enjoy the issue!

Polly Arnold

---