Cover Picture: (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 16/2018)

Graphical Abstract An Invitation To Imagine the Future We tend to take it all for granted: scientific methods, the periodic table, our knowledge of the elements. If you travel back 350 years, you'll arrive in a very different time. A time in which the field we collectively refer to as “chemistry” didn't actually exist. Now, imagine a leap in time, forward, into the future, let's say another 350 years from now. It's almost impossible for us to envision the distant future. It's difficult enough to speak about progress in the coming decades: Will a breakthrough have helped cure cancer or autoimmune diseases? Will new technologies have revolutionized drug discovery and development? Will artificial intelligence have proved to be a blessing (or a curse)? On their 350th anniversary, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is inviting us to join in on this thought experiment. We ask ourselves about what we can learn from groundbreaking ideas from the past, muse about current developments, and take a look into all our futures. The roots of this internationally renowned science and technology company go back to 1668, and it has been a part of human progress and advancement ever since. Curiosity has been the driving force in their continuous growth and, as Dr. Stefan Oschmann writes in his introductory Editorial; is more important than ever—for both companies and society as a whole—in order to grasp progress and to responsibly shape the future of mankind. We feel fortunate to include contributions from several outstanding academics who accepted Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany's invitation to muse about recent findings, state-of-the-art research, and the potential of future technology. They, like many other scientists, represent the collaborative approach of this company and the type of international scientific cooperation that is required to tackle the current and future problems and challenges of mankind. Angewandte Chemie congratulates Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany on their jubilee. Last not least we want to announce the “Curious2018 – Future Insight Conference”, that is hosted by the company and will be held in Darmstadt from July 16–18, 2018 (see https://curious2018.com/).