Introduction
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is a powerful analytical technique with the capacity to ascertain detailed qualitative and quantitative information about an analyte. The two most commonly used methods are based on the magnetic nuclear spin of 1H and 13C nuclei. Interaction between the inherent magnetic properties of some atomic nuclei and an external magnetic field form the physical basis for NMR. Transitions between the quantized energy states associated with these nuclear magnetic moments can be induced by irradiating the nuclei with electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency (RF) region. The dominance of NMR across virtually every scientific discipline is largely due to its versatility and precision. In addition, the non-destructive nature of the technique and the ease of sample preparation has also lead to its widespread adoption.

History of its Development to the Modern Incarnation
The foundation for NMR spectroscopy was laid by German physicists, Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach. In 1922, the two men performed an groundbreaking experiment where they directed a beam of silver atoms (total angular momentum = 1/2) through a non-uniform magnetic field and onto a photographic plate. If the magnetic moments produced by electron spin could take any orientation in 3D space, then the atoms would be deflected by the magnetic field at random and a continuous smear of spots would appear on the photographic plate. However, Stern and Gerlach found that the atoms only landed at two discrete spots on the photographic plate. They concluded that the magnetic moments of electrons can only take on a parallel or anti-parallel orientation in the presence of an external magnetic field. In effect, Stern and Gerlach discovered the quantum nature of electron spin.
In the following decade, quantized spin was discovered for other fundamental particles. It was the spin of atomic nuclei that Cornelius J. Gorter and Isidor...