text: In 1978, Still and coworkers published a highly influential paper reporting a purification technique known as flash column chromatography.  Prior to this report, column chromatography using silica gel as a stationary phase had already been established as a valuable method for the separation and purification of organic compounds.  However, elution of the solvent by gravity alone was often a tedious process, requiring several hours and leading to poor separations due to band broadening via diffusion.  Stills innovation was to apply pressure to the top of the column to increase the speed of solvent elution.  Not only did this drastically reduce the time required to run the column, but it also allowed for the routine separation of compounds having an R difference of 0.10 or greater.  After optimizing this procedure, Still compiled a table correlating column diameter, volume of eluant, amount of sample, and typical fraction size, providing a useful guide for application of this technique in the laboratory.  Today, flash column chromatography is one of the most important methods for the purification of organic compounds, especially when working on a small scale (< 50 mg) where the techniques of recrystallization and distillation are impractical.  Stills paper describing flash column chromatography remains his most highly cited publication and holds the distinction of being one of the most frequently downloaded papers from the Journal of Organic Chemistry, despite being published over 35 years ago.