Scientists Predict Internet Will Revolutionize Research

Already, they say, data exchange and E-mail are reshaping the way science is done--and this is only the beginning The vigorously expanding international computer network known as the Internet is changing the way science is done, researchers say. Sometimes dramatically, sometimes subtly, the Internet is altering the way scientists interact with their data, with their instruments, and with each other. Moreover, investigators predic

Franklin Hoke

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Already, they say, data exchange and E-mail are reshaping the way science is done--and this is only the beginning

The vigorously expanding international computer network known as the Internet is changing the way science is done, researchers say. Sometimes dramatically, sometimes subtly, the Internet is altering the way scientists interact with their data, with their instruments, and with each other. Moreover, investigators predict, as an ever-increasing flow of Internet-related support tools go online, such futuristic-seeming concepts as "tele-experimentation" and networked "collaboratories" are likely to revolutionize the global scientific enterprise.

Editor's Note This article, the first part of a two-part series on the emergence of the global Internet as an integral part of science, looks at the proliferation of online communication and collaboration by E-mail, file exchange, and electronic publication. The second part, to appear in the May 16 issue, will explore the powerful new online information tools already available and ...

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