Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is having an enormous liTIpact on biomedical research both at the basic science and clinical levels. In order to appreciate the elegance and power of this technology a historical perspective is in order. In 1924 Pauli suggested that hydrogen nuclei might possess a magnetic IIlOlllent. This was in fact confinned by Rabbi in 1939 who demonstrated that a beam of hydrogen molecules in the presence of a magnetic field could be mutated by radio frequency fields resonating at the Iarmor frequency. 'Ihe first successful NMR experiments in condensed matter were...