ABSTRACT
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) rapidly became one of the most powerful an alytical techniques, used in many different fields of chemistry. Not only has its im portance been demonstrated in chemistry and physics, but the usefulness of NMR imaging has rapidly spread throughout the world of medicine. This chapter at tempts to lay the foundation of NMR concepts, with the intention of providing a background sufficient for understanding the underlying principles embodied in the subsequent chapters of this volume.