IN THIS ISSUE: The Materials Science Center: Cornell's Premier Interdisciplinary Laboratory /2 (The history and functions of the Materials Science Center at Cornell are discussed by the director, John Silcox.) ... Making Equipment Available /6 (The MSC maintains eight Central Facilities for its users. Noel Desch, the associate director of the center, and three of the managers outline the services and expertise offered by these facilities.) ... Heating with Light: Growing Ceramic Single Crystals at Very High Temperature /19 (Custom-made single crystals can be grown in an image furnace in a developing facility at Cornell. Professor Rudiger Dieckmann and Postdoctoral Associate Roland Geray discuss the method and its potential.) ... Adventures with Forsterite /24 (Single crystals grown in Dieckmann's laboratory are being used by Professor Clifford Pollock and his associates to build a previously unattainable laser?? in the spectral range needed for work in fiber optics.) ... Polymers and Polymer Composites: A Study Group of the Materials Science Center /29 (Interdisciplinary collaboration in theory, synthesis, and characterization helps Cornell scientists develop new polymeric materials for specialized applications. Professor Edward J. Kramer discusses a productive MSC study group.) ... Modular Programs for Physical Research /36 (Physics Professor James P. Sethna explains the scientific software packages that are under development at Cornell, and even tells how to access them.) ... The MSC Facilities: A User's Point of View /42 (A graduate student in materials science gives a first-hand account of howr the MSC facilities are used in thesis research. Jean Lee is studying the defect structure of a ceramic material.) ... Register /48 ... Faculty Publications /50