History of one discovery

The history of the formation and development of the theory of solid-state decomposition reactions, based on the mechanism of congruent dissociative vaporization (CDV) of solids with simultaneous condensation of the supersaturated vapors of the low-volatility products, is described here in the form of recollections. The review covers a 30-year period (1983-2013), beginning with experimental studies in the decomposition process by electrothermal quadrupole mass spectrometry (QMS) and ending with investigations of the decomposition kinetics and catalysis by methods of thermal analysis.