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The half lives of the positron emitting isotopes commonly used in PET range from about 1 minute to two hours and they are usually produced on a cyclotron. Positron emitter labeled radiotracers are produced using rapid synthetic organic chemistry to incorporate simple labeled molecules into more complex labeled organic compounds. The energy emitted from positron decay is detected by a positron emission tomograph which provides images of the regional distribution and kinetics of the radiotracer. PET has emerged as an important scientific tool in the clinical neurosciences where it has been used to address problems in psychiatry, neurology and in the mechanisms of action of therapeutic drugs and drugs of abuse. However, it is advances in rapid synthetic chemistry which have played a key role in these investigations and which will continue to be responsible for advancing knowledge of basic biochemical processes which occur in the living human body and changes which occur in disease.