Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which has evolved only within the last 20 years, has become one of the very important tools in chemistry and physics. The literature on its theory and application has grown immensely and a comprehensive and adequate treatment of all branches by one author, or even by several, becomes increasingly difficult. This series is planned to present articles written by experts working in various fields of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and will contain review articles as well as progress reports and original work. Its main aim, however, is to fill a gap, existing in literature, by publishing articles written by specialists, which take the reader from the introductory stage to the latest development in the field. The editors are grateful to the authors for the time and effort spent in writing the articles, and for their invaluable cooperation. The papers presented here are condensed versions of the main contributions to the 7th Colloquium on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, which was made possible by the generous support of the Freunde der Aachener Hoch­ schule (FAHO). The RWTH is indebted to the FAHO and to all the participants who contributed to the success of the Colloquium.