Science and technology are intricately connected yet remain two separate disciplines. The example of catalysis shows how the two can combine to yield advances that would be otherwise impossible.

In his Editorial for Angewandte Chemie, Rutger van Santen, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, describes how scientific knowledge of nanoscale processes could be exploited to downsize production and speed up the development of microplant technology. Similarly, he envisions that newly won atomic-scale understanding of heterogeneous catalysis processes will allow guided design of new catalysts using computer simulation, which will replace the traditional experimental trial-and-error approach to catalyst discovery.

• Problem Solvers and Thinkers
  R. van Santen,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011.
  DOI: 10.1002/anie.201107346