Abstract:     As any fan of Star Trek will tell you, the 23^rd Century began with the fall television season in 1996. The original Star Trek series was followed by Star Trek: The Next Generation, which offers us a view of the universe eighty years beyond that of the original show, and into the 24^th Century.

The twenty-five "earth years" separating the two shows have witnessed a remarkable expansion of our knowledge about science, as well as changes in the public's perception of science. Major advances involving biotechnology, DNA and the genetic code, medicine, and materials have been mirrored in different approaches to similar problems encountered by both crews of the Enterprise. How far science has come in this quarter century, and what the general public thinks of the pursuit, is illustrated in the comparison of the two programs.

Biography:     Natalie Foster is an associate professor of chemistry at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, where she is currently studying poly(vinyl alcohol) gels by NMR as part of a larger interest in the influence of intermolecular interactions on NMR relaxation times. She is also currently working on a freshman chemistry textbook.

Far more impressive, however, is Foster’s startling disclosure, now revealed for the first time: Time travel will definitely be a reality. She admits that this will have the dire consequences of forever confusing verb tenses for generations of English scholars. She has served / will serve in the 24^th Century aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise on its continuing mission under the command of her mentor and very close personal friend, Captain Jean-Luc Picard. She adds that she is undergoing / has undergone special Federation training and, for reasons she cannot disclose under provisions of the Prime Directive, she is pursuing / has pursued intensive anthropological inquiries into the politico-cultural role of dining in fine restaurants featuring excellent wine cellars. She always has welcomed / will continue to welcome suggestions and support for this study, since clearly the future of the Universe is in the balance.