Go with the flow: Fifty years of innovation and ion chemistry using the flowing afterglow

This restrospective chronicles the invention of the flowing afterglow technique fifty years ago by Ferguson, Fehsenfeld, and Schmeltekopf at the National Bureau of Standards Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado. Their pioneering development and applications of this powerful new experimental approach to a multitude of atmospheric reactions are described. The implementation and extension of the technique by scientists throughout the world is briefly discussed, and the paper concludes with a more personal story of research and innovation at the University of Colorado. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.