R.L Mössbauer died a few weeks before the 50th anniversary of his Nobel prize award, which he shared with R. Hofstadter. This description of the work which led to the discovery of recoilless resonance absorption of γ rays, later named Mössbauer effect, is based on his personal reminiscences. Applications of Mössbauer spectroscopy are discussed with emphasis on the successful Mars mission that included facilities for this method of spectroscopy., Karel Závěta,Jaroslav Kohout, Adriana Lančok., and Obsahuje seznam literatury