Volume 9: Historical Perspectives, Part B: Notable People in Mass Spectrometry of The Encyclopedia of Mass Spectrometry briefly reviews the lives and works of many of the major people who carried out this development, providing insights into the history of mass spectrometry applications through the personal stories of pioneers and innovators in the field.

The book presents biographies of notable contributors, including Nobel Prize winners J. J. Thomson, Francis W. Aston, Wolfgang Paul, John B. Fenn, and Koichi Tanaka, along with other luminaries in the field, including Franz Hillenkamp, Catherine Clarke Fenselau, Alfred O. C. Nier, and many more, discussing not only the instruments and their uses, but also providing interesting information on the careers, characters, and life stories of the people who did the work.