Articles by Diana Gabaldon

For the many researchers who are comfortable with and knowledgeable about computers, shopping for communications software can be a pleasurable and educational experience. Yet for those who know little about computers, the task could be painful, if not expensive. These scientists would do well to first understand the whole process of how computers communicate. Scientific computing used to be largely confined to mainframe devices, with all necessary data, operations, and report generation per- f

When the sixth annual Scientific Computing and Automation Conference and Exposition begins in Philadelphia tomorrow, conferees will be hearing about hundreds of scientific software packages that are now on the market. By contrast, in 1985, when the first conference was held, only a few applications were available for technical users of microcomputers, mostly in the area of data management and statistics. There were no more than a handful of software packages at the dawn of the so-called microc

Motion analysis is the science (or art) of comparing sequential still images captured from photographing a body in motion, for the purpose of studying both the simple kinematics (the motions themselves) and the kinetics (the separate forces) involved. Originally developed in the early 1980s for use in sports medicine, motion analysis involves the recording of visual images of relatively large objects, such as the human body or an animal in movement, via a hardware-software system. Researchers

Data are the heart and soul of science, as well as the backbone, the skeleton, and a wide assortment of vital organs and appendages. The ability of computers to process data quickly has been an important factor contributing to the increase in scientific productivity over the last few years. But "processing" data isn't as easy as it sounds. Many scientists, when presented with a new microcomputer, naively believe that they simply will be able to put all their data into the machine and come up w

Scientific computing as a whole is something of a hybrid field. Applications - as well as software - range from highly specialized operations used in only a narrow field of research to those with a broad appeal that cross disciplinary lines. All researchers, for example, use statistics, no matter what area of science they work in, and, of course, everyone uses word processing. A third broadly applicable genre is curve-fitting software - packages that help the researcher to organize (or fit) a

Although the manufacturers of the Apple Macintosh contend that the Mac was never intended to be a toy, it has been little more than an entertaining desktop accessory for many scientists since it introduction in 1984. But Apple Computer Inc., realizing that the number of scientific and technical computer users is on the rise, set out a few years ago to develop software for the Mac that would be beneficial to this market. And it looks as though the company is succeeding. in Apple’s now-

Any scientist who has ever published anything has had to wrestle with references. And the longer you’re in the field, the greater the problem grows. Card files spill over, file drawers bulge with reprints, and you shrink from preparing the next manuscript for publication because of the horrible job of assembling the relevant references. Scientists who are worn out from tackling this task constitute a ready-made market, and it’s no surprise that a number of software companies hav

The urge to start a science journal strikes often—often enough, if stretched out over the course of a year, for one to be launched every working day and most Saturdays as well. In 1987, according to the Institute for Scientific Information’s Current Contents selection staff, at least 302 new science publications first saw the light of day. The staff says “at least” on the presumption that there were some that they didn’t see. Many of these new ventures, of course,

For anyone who has spent hours with pen in hand, poring over a word-processed scientific manuscript and filling in a multitude of blanks with equations and complicated graphs, the latest generation of desktop publishing software may sound like a dream come true. After all, some of these programs combine an array of capabilities that can make the operator the equivalent of a typesetter and layout artist. They allow the fluent integration of different functions— spreadsheets, word processor

Scientists don’t spend years in graduate school to end up as accountants, but that’s sometimes how it seems. Writing proposals may consume more of. a researcher’s time than the research itself. And the paperwork only increases when the grant is awarded "salaries and fringe benefits have to be paid, capital expenses have to be encumbered, reports to the granting agency have to be made. If you’re sighing in agreement, take heart. At least three software packages now on

Holy trinity of software. beware! Move over spreadsheet data base handler and word processor. Make room for the equation solver, the simulation/prediction program for those who live by the numbers. What is an equation solver? Basically, it's: a software package that will do complex mathematical computations without being programmed by the user. Most solvers are more than just souped-up calculators. In addition to built-in trig functions, step functions, math routines, etc., they can plot cal