Early Events and Some Later Developments in Microwave Spectroscopy

The early history of microwave spectroscopy is reviewed. New directions in the field are indicated. These include: further extensions of coherent submillimeter wave spectroscopy, microwave spectroscopy of molecules in interstellar space, microwave-infrared laser double resonance, spectroscopy of ionized molecules and transient molecular radicals, studies of hydrogen-bonded molecular complexes and atom-molecule complexes, observations of “forbidden” rotational transitions in symmetric-top and spherical-top molecules, and new developments in high-temperature spectroscopy.