JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL ATOMIC SPECTROMETRY MARCH 1992 VOL. 7 17N Reflections and Comments from Sir Alan Walsh FRS In a brief speech following the presen- tation of the inaugural CSI-Award Sir Alan spoke of his delight and surprise on learning that he was to be the first recipient. The surprise was complete since he had been totally unaware that such an Award had been proposed. He thanked Pat Butler Peter Larkins and Ralph Sturgeon for their generous re- marks which were in sharp contrast to the apathy and suspicion which greeted the first papers on atomic absorption spectroscopy in the 1950s. He wondered if the delayed impact of these early papers was partly due to them having originated from small and/or remote countries such as Hol- land Australia New Zealand and South Africa.The production in Australia in the late 1950s of ‘do-it-yourself kits’ which permitted the construction of the ‘working-man’s atomic absorption spectrometer’ led to rapid acceptance of atomic absorption methods. Sir Alan paid high tribute to all those who took part in the design construction marketing and operation of these cost- effective instruments. He felt quite sure that these many contributions had been influential in the decision to present the first CSI-Award to Australia! After the conference Sir Alan reflected that it had been outstandin- gly successful. He considered that he had little expertise in most of the subjects being presented (a typically humble comment) but the standard of lecturing had been remarkably high and the discussions lively. The enthu- siasm was sustained throughout the proceedings. The social events had Sir Alan and Lady Walsh been most enjoyable and all partici- pants had appreciated the meetings held in remote but beautiful surround- ings which contributed to the confer- ence being such a happy one. For he and his wife the conference had been a very special occasion. They had been overwhelmed by kindness and the conference organizers had spared no effort to make their visit to Norway a particularly happy one. It had been especially good to see many old friends who they had not met for a long time. Sir Alan and Lady Walsh brought a great deal of pleasure to everyone at the conference and for this we thank them and wish them good health and happiness for many years to come. We also hope it will not be too long before we meet them both again.