Vol.1 No.1 2008

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−72−Letter from the editorWe are publishing a new type of journal for research papers. The name of the journal is Synthesiology, and the equivalent word in Japanese is “kohseigaku”. Since the journal accepts research papers and articles written either in Japanese or in English, the editorial board decided to publish an equivalent, translated edition following the original one where all materials are written in English for better international circulation. That is this journal, Synthesiology-English edition.The word Synthesiology is a coined word made by joining “synthesis” with the meaning of integration and “-logy” with the meaning of learning. As is well known, “synthesis” is a word of Greek origin, with syn (meaning ‘with’) + the (meaning ‘put’) + sis (meaning ‘process, condition’), and “-logy” also originated from the Greek word logos (meaning ‘Word of God’) and has the same word origin as “logic”. With the thought that, in order to make full use of science in society, how one “integrates” elemental, scientific knowledge is important, the word, “synthesis”, was used as the basis; and “-logy” was added because the purpose of the journal is to find a common method or logic by accumulating congregative, constructive work in order to pass the research development results to society. Thus Synthesiology was born. The meaning of “Synthesiology” is discussed in detail in the Preface of this issue.As opposed to “synthesis”, the word, “analysis”, naturally came into mind. In the 17th century, science came into existence and the academic society was established, and thereafter, reductionism has brought about success in sciences. However, today the limitations of reductionism are strongly felt and the importance of integration and constitution is talked of in the academic community. There is this sentiment to go back to the point of origin of science, and to review its relationship with society. The general historical background is discussed in the Article of this issue.In publishing this new journal, the significant problem was envisioning the readership. Although almost all the present academic journals are circulated within individual, segmented academic fields, this journal aims to transcend discipline boundaries to reach people from all areas of society with interest in research development and the application of scientific knowledge. This covers scientific researchers to engineers and managers of research development and people in all technological domains and related humanities and social science areas. We would like to ask you to see whether this aim is effectively achieved by reading the 6 research papers published in this issue. As seen from the view point of the editor, I think that the goals have been achieved to a respectable degree. Another point to notice is the motives of the authors. The authors of the research papers of this issue have all been producing notable basic research results and their papers have been published in various academic journals. These authors have told me that there was something significant they were able to write about for the first time in this particular journal.The difficulty in editing was that, the research papers of this journal being completely different in form than those in the existing other academic journals, the authors and reviewers had to exchange views many times and collaboratively produce the new journal. The manuscript guidelines and review criteria are described in the Editorial Policy of this issue. It needs to be pointed out, however, that the style of paper is still being developed, and it is hoped that several styles will come together after gradual refinement through trial and error. There is no other way to verify the originality of research papers and demonstrate high quality standards on an ongoing basis.I hope that many researchers and engineers of a broad domain related to scientific research and its applications to society will be interested in and actively contribute to this journal.Editor in ChiefAkira OnoSynthesiology - English edition Vol. 1 No. 1, August 2008Edited by Synthesiology Editorial BoardPublished by National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)Synthesiology Editorial BoardEditor in Chief: A.OnoSenior Executive Editor: N.KobayashiExecutive Editors: M.Akamatsu, H.Tateishi, K.Naito, H.TayaEditors: A.Kageyama, N.Yumoto, K.Ohmaki, K.Igarashi, E.Tsukuda, M.Kamimoto, M.Tanaka, M.Mochimaru, N.Murayama, K.Mizuno, H.Ichijo, A.Etori, H.Nakashima, P. FonsPublishing Secretariat: Publication Office, Public Relations Department, AISTContact: Synthesiology Editorial Boardc/o Publication Office, Public Relations Department, AISTTsukuba Central 2, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-8568, JapanTel: +81-29-862-6217 Fax: +81-29-862-6212E-mail: URL: http://www.aist.go.jp/synthesiology*Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

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