Since personal computers first came into widespread use in the early 1980s, they have become essential for virtually all scientists. The best thing about these now-ubiquitous machines, aside from their ability to revolutionize research, is that as time goes by, they continue to get faster, smaller, and--relative to their power--cheaper. And with this increasing power, and the new software that it fuels, will come additional fundamental changes in the way scientists work. Advancing technology a

PASADENA, CALIF.—Harry Gray can walk the 30 feet or so from his third-floor office at the California Institute of Technology and look out the window at a gigantic hole in the ground. Next to it is a huge mound of dirt covered with opaque plastic. The dirt, taken from the hole, will eventually be used for backfill, and the mound is affectionately called “Mount Beckman” after its benefactor, Arnold Beckman. Gray walks to the window frequently and happily; he is looking at the

Choosing a word processor for the Macintosh, once a simple decision, recently became far more complicated with the introduction of several powerful programs, including one designed especially for academic and scientific use. The good news is that several software producers seem to be heading in the right direction; the bad news is that no one has reached the finish line with the ideal program for academics and scientists in hand. But several companies ap- pear to be close. Before the spring of