They wander along the shore in Hawaii. The surf breaks; the fragrance of plumeria fills the December air as husband and wife type furiously on their portable computers.

That’s how physicist and physician Jerold Lowenstein and anthropologist Adrienne Zihlman spend their winter holiday. From their perspective, the opportunity to collaborate on popular articles about molecular evolution is an advantage of being married to a fellow scientist.

By contrast, geologists Priscilla and Edward Grew steer clear of work when they get together for vacations two or three times a year.

“When we first started commuting, we’d try to combine work with our weekends together,” says Priscilla Grew. “It’s fun to be able to talk shop, but we found that we needed time completely away from work. One thing that has helped our marriage is separating work from our relationship.”

While every science couple is sure to devise their own ways of...

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