June 1986 brought together some of the world's leaders in computer enhanced analytical spectroscopy at Snowbird, Utah, for what the attendees decided to call "The First Hidden Peak Symposium." With the remarkable advances in both computer hardware and software, it is interesting to observe that, while many computational aspects of spectroscopic analysis have become routine, some of the more fundamental problems remain unsolved. The group that assembled included many of those who started trying to interpret chemical spectroscopy when computers were ponderous, slow, and not very accessible, as well as newcomers who never knew the day that spectrometers were delivered without attached computers. The synergism was excellent. Many new ideas, as well as this volume, resulted from interactions among the participants. The conclusion was that progress would be made on more fundamen tal problems now that hardware, software, and mathematics were coming together on a more sophisticated level. The feeling was that the level of sophistication is now adequate and that it is only a matter of time before automated spectral interpretation surpasses all but the most advanced human experts.
