Magnesium in biological systems [antikvár]

The history of magnesium can be broken down into several successive chapters. The early historical period from the 18th century to the first quarter of the 20th century mainly involved the development of chemical and pharmacological knowledge. The next stage began in 1926, when the essential character of magnesium was acknowledged. The early part of the modern period, up to the 1960s, established the basis of our present knowledge at physiological, epidemiological and clinical levels. The modern period began in 1971 with the First International Symposium on Magnesium held in Vittel, Francé; 350 participants from 52 countries contributed to the publication of 2 weighty volumes of Proceedings, corresponding to a compilation of more than 25,000 references, which still offer a wide rangé of valuable data. In this multinational context, Hungárián magnesium research occupied an exceptional position. With 2 generál reviews and 6 originál communications, Hungary came ahead of 29 other countries, just behind Francé, the USA, Canada and Germany. If the ratio between the number of researchers and the national population was taken into account, Hungárián magnesium research deserved to be ranked first! Its originality and variety were established at that time, and this was later confirmed. At the closing ceremony of the First International Symposium on Magnesium, three wishes were expressed: to create an international association establishing permanent links between international magnesium researchers, to organize international and national meetings and to ensure the publication of highly specialized papers. The International Society for the Development of Magnesium Research (SDRM) was thus boni. Magnesium Research is its official organ. SDRM has since organized regular international and national meetings. Hungárián magnesium research, promoted by János Rigó, a member of the Editorial Board of the Magnesium Research, has regularly provided noteworthy participation in these various meetings, with the appreciated help of the magnesium team of the Magyar Általános Orvosok Tudományos Egyesülete (MAOTE) under the leadership of Vilma Kuti. Five Hungárián Magnesium Symposia were subsequently organized, one in Győr in 1975 by Vilma Kuti, one in Szombathely by Frigyes Morvay, one in Kazincbarcika in 1989 and two in Balatonszéplak in 1992 and 1994, all by Sándor A. Kiss. As President of SDRM, I had the privilege to participate in all these symposia and may testify to their quality. It is impossible to highlight all the aspects of this many-sided research, but it must be stressed that it has applied to such different fields as agronomy, phytophysiology and plánt biochemistry, where Hungárián research was seminal under the guidance of