Abstract
In July 1997 Professor Harry Rilbe passed away at the age of 84. Harry Rilbe was an outstanding personality skilled in chemistry, optics and mathematics, and he will be remembered for his important contributions to the development of separation methods, notably moving boundary electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing. The latter method is used for analytical and preparative purposes in thousands of laboratories worldwide. Isoelectric focusing is indispensable for characterization of proteins from humans, animals, plants and microorganisms. Isoelectric focusing is thus useful for the understanding of the function of genes and, accordingly, for progress in the life sciences. A biographical retrospect, “A scientific life with chemistry, optics and mathematics”, was published by Harry Rilbe in Electrophoresis 1984, 5, 1–17.