William R. Sutherland

This report is based on the results of an NSF sponsored workshop held in Washington, D.C. on November 2, 1978. The co-authors of the report are: Gordon Bell, Digital Equipment Corporation; Bernard A. Galler, University of Michigan; Patricia Goldberg, IBM Corporation; John Hamblen, University of Missouri at Rolla; Elliot Pinson, Bell Telephone Laboratories; and Ivan Sutherland, California Institute of Technology. Also participating in the workshop were representatives of NSF and other government agencies. In addition to the authors, a number of other people have contributed to the contents of this report. In preparation for the original workshop, all doctorate-granting computer science departments in the nation were asked for comments and suggestions on the problems of experimental computer science. A version of the current report dated January 15 was circulated to these departments and to a number of industrial and government groups for criticism. The editors and authors of this final version gratefully acknowledge the contribution of a large number of other people at all stages in the preparation of the report. [Note: Following this presentation of the report, there is a position paper on the crisis in experimental computer science written by the ACM Executive Committee.]