Abstract :
As Spectrum´s editors began the research that culminated in this annual review of a dozen major areas of technology, it quickly became clear that there would be not just one theme that would predominate, but at least two major ones. At the outset, it was evident that very large scale integration would be one topic of interest in a number of the sections of the issue. Its thread is found in several of the applications sections — computers and solid-state devices of course, but also communications, military and aerospace, and instrumentation.