Since Herschel discovered light in the near-infrared region as early as 1800, the NIR region of the electromagnetic spectrum, once regarded as having little potential for analytical work, has now become one of the most promising techniques for molecular spectroscopy in several analytical fields. Over the last three decades, the development of new applications of infrared spectroscopy has been associated with increased power of computers and progress in chemometrics. This book introduces and presents several novel applications of NIR spectroscopy in biology, medicine, food science, the pharmaceutical sciences, polymers and minerals.