This volume focuses on the key challenges in understanding the biological chemistry of metals.Metal centres play a very important role in many biological systems, and especially in the reactivity of proteins and enzymes. The biochemistry of metalloproteins is determined to a large degree by the fundamental chemical properties of the metal centre. A wide range of powerful spectroscopic methods can provide direct insight into these chemical properties. Modern computational methods, especially density functional theory, are able to provide a detailed description of the metal centres, their properties, and their reactivity.Such investigations are truly interdisciplinary and the development and application of physical methods and computational chemistry to biological problems require spectroscopists and theoretical chemists to collaborate with each other and with a wide range of other scientists, notably biochemists and coordination chemists. This is particularly true as spectroscopy and theory typically provide insight into slightly different aspects of reactivity.Faraday Discussions documents a long-established series of Faraday Discussion meetings which provide a unique international forum for the exchange of views and newly acquired results in developing areas of physical chemistry, biophysical chemistry and chemical physics.The papers presented are published in the Faraday Discussion volume together with a record of the discussion contributions made at the meeting. Faraday Discussions therefore provide an important record of current international knowledge and views in the field concerned.