title: Förster's resonance excitation transfer theory: not just a formula.
abstract: After 65 years of increasing scrutiny and application, Theodor Förster's treatment of resonance excitation transfer is widely quoted and has acquired the acronym FRET, in which "F" originally and rather curiously stood for "fluorescence." In this brief and mostly qualitative survey, we review some of its history, mention its important limitations, and relate some personal encounters with Förster.
authors.affiliation: University of Rochester, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester, New York 14627-0171, USA. rsk@pas.rochester.edu
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Knox
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D019793:Fluorescein; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055095:Optics and Photonics
chemical_list: D019793:Fluorescein