Radioactive beam science, past, present and future

Since high-energy radioactive nuclei were used for collision measurements., many discoveries in physics and many inventions in technique of producing and delivering radioactive beam have been made. In this paper, firstly, I briefly review developments in radioactive beam science and then show a close relation between development in technology and physics. Based on such consideration, I discuss the probable best scheme of radioactive ion beam production for studies of r-process that is considered to be one of the most important and exciting subjects for the future. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.