Like so many other chemists, I learned to know Ralf through his publications. In the latter half of 1970s, I had started my graduate studies and worked with heterocyclic selenium sulfides. The crystal structures were disordered and X-ray crystallography did not provide any information, whether there were binary compounds in these crystalline phases or only solid solutions of cyclooctasulfur and -selenium. At about the same time Ralf had started to publish Raman spectroscopic and normal coordinate studies of homocyclic sulfur rings. My thesis supervisor in Helsinki University of Technology, Prof. Lauri Niinistö, suggested that we contact Ralf and carry out the Raman spectroscopy on my binary systems together with him. Ralf invited me to come to Berlin. During the years 1979-1985 I visited Berlin several times. It culminated in my extended stay there of almost two years in 1984-1985. In addition to learning Raman spectroscopy during that time, Ralf taught me, how research should be done. He stressed the importance of fundamental research and the need for critical evaluation of one’s own conclusions. He belonged to the generation, who could master widely the whole field of inorganic chemistry and who could utilize this knowledge in his own research. He will always remain as a best example of how research should be conducted. His impact goes beyond the extensive research work he has published himself, because he has educated a large number of inorganic chemists, who keep carrying the torch.
Like so many other chemists, I learned to know Ralf through his publications. In the latter half of 1970s, I had started my graduate studies and worked with heterocyclic selenium sulfides. The crystal structures were disordered and X-ray crystallography did not provide any information, whether there were binary compounds in these crystalline phases or only solid solutions of cyclooctasulfur and -selenium. At about the same time Ralf had started to publish Raman spectroscopic and normal coordinate studies of homocyclic sulfur rings. My thesis supervisor in Helsinki University of Technology, Prof. Lauri Niinistö, suggested that we contact Ralf and carry out the Raman spectroscopy on my binary systems together with him. Ralf invited me to come to Berlin. During the years 1979-1985 I visited Berlin several times. It culminated in my extended stay there of almost two years in 1984-1985. In addition to learning Raman spectroscopy during that time, Ralf taught me, how research should be done. He stressed the importance of fundamental research and the need for critical evaluation of one’s own conclusions. He belonged to the generation, who could master widely the whole field of inorganic chemistry and who could utilize this knowledge in his own research. He will always remain as a best example of how research should be conducted. His impact goes beyond the extensive research work he has published himself, because he has educated a large number of inorganic chemists, who keep carrying the torch.
