Abstract
<jats:p>The introduction presents Friedrich Adolf Paneth (1887–1958) as an internationally renowned chemist who is now little known beyond specialist circles. Paneth worked on major problems in radiochemistry, micro gas analysis, metal hydrides, cosmochemistry, and geochronology; his lasting contributions include the early tracer method with George de Hevesy, the Fajans-Hahn-Paneth rules, the distinction between pure and mixed elements, and the detection of free alkyl radicals in the gas phase. The chapter also addresses scientific missteps, including his alleged findings on the fusion of hydrogen into helium and the problematic uranium-helium dating of meteorites.</jats:p> <jats:p>Biographically, Paneth appears as a Jewish scientist forced into exile in 1933 who returned to Germany in 1953 as director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry. The introduction explains the need for a source-based full biography while also reflecting on the selective archival record, especially the absence of private documents and signs that the estate was curated to shape Paneth’s posthumous image.</jats:p>