Scintillation counting: An extrapolation into the future

Progress in scintillation counting which is related to advances in a variety of other disciplines such as photochemistry, photophysics, and instrumentation are discussed. The exponential growth of this technology has a profound effect on the art of scintillation spectroscopy. Key events in technology that have had an impact on the development of scintillation science (solid and liquid) are reviewed and extrapolation of future directions based on existing and projected capability in associated fields are outlined. Occassional pitfalls and several false starts are discussed as a reminer that if you want the future to be different than the past, study the past.