IN THIS ISSUE: Editorial /2 ... ASME at 100: A Reflection on the Founding and on a Favorite Founder /3 (In anticipation of the centennial of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1980, Donald F. Berth, director of development at the Cornell College of Engineering, contributes an historical account centered on Robert Henry Thurston, first president of ASME and early director of the mechanical engineering program at Cornell.) ... A Perspective on the Steam Engine /12 (The steam engine, an important application of mechanical engineering in Thurston's day, is considered in its historical context by Dennis Shepherd, emeritus Cornell professor. Shepherd held the John Edson Sweet chair in engineering, named in honor of an early Cornell professor known for his emphasis on shop skills.) ... The Watershed Years: 1850 to 1900 /22 (A Cornell specialist in the history of technology, Professor Bart Conta, discusses his view that a fundamental shift in the relation of science and technology led to the present dangerous condition of technology responding to the possibilities of science rather than to the needs of people.) ... Mechanical Engineering and the Energy Future /29 (What is the future of energy technology? Professor Franklin K. Moore urges a "continued, even stubborn" emphasis on technical research intended to develop and refine energy options.) ... Vantage /38 (Current research activities in Cornell's Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering are surveyed in a photo-essay on faculty members of the School.) ... Faculty Publications /47