Instrumentation and Computers
Philip H. Abelson · American Scientist · 1986
This article sketches the development of scientific in strumentation during the past hundred years. Associat ed with a trend toward powerful, costly equipment has been an evolution in the way research is conducted. The rate of evolution differs in various disciplines. It has been fastest in nuclear physics and slowest in biology. But in general, the amateur of the earlier day, working alone with inexpensive equipment, is increasingly being re placed by professional teams using very costly facilities. Instruments today often shape the conduct of research. They make discoveries possible. They determine what discoveries will be made.