Abstract
The state of the art in regard to studies on the relation between structure and properties expressed by chemical compounds, especially biological activity, has been assessed, the determination of structure-activity relationships being the only feasible alternative to costly empirical screening. It has been shown that in this area of research, which embraces the fields of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and biology, further advances will only be possible by means of a compatible language for the computer-aided description of structure, and methods for revealing structure-property relationships and quantitative criteria of properties. 171 references.