"There is an explosion going on," said Gilbert, "There is increased interest in science and increased awareness of the impact of science on everybody."

Filling Niches

Other members of the Harvard community say they feel the trend is a result of the constant diversification of science.

Hewitt noted the wider range of science issues being covered by today's groups.

The Society of Physics Students, Student Astronomers at Harvard-Radcliffe and the Environmental Action Committee of the Phillips Brooks House Association publish newsletters which could be considered science-related, Hewitt said.

"I think there has been interest from people in science to have a niche," said Khan of the Science Review. "These new publications are more specialized, but I don't think they have the mass appeal that the Science Review does."

Indeed, most of the new publications were created because none existed for a narrow area of science.

"There really wasn't medically-oriented magazine on campus," said Chong for Caduceus.

"There wasn't a math publication," said Hwang for the Math Bulletin.

"The BRAIN is a forum for people who want to write about neuroscience," Soo said.

"There are so many people interested in science," Hwang said, "It was inevitable that they would start magazines in their particular field of interest."

Normal Fluctuations?

While there undeniably has been an increase in the number of science publications, some attribute this to the normal fluctuations of student organizations.

"There are things that come and go just like anything else, "Hewitt said.

"I don't think it's necessarily a greater interest in science," said Ashraf S. Hegazy '96, managing editor of the Journal of Undergraduate Sciences. "People are starting to see that publications are a good way to get others involved in science."

"In my time here, there have been many publications," said Professor Hastings. "I'm not sure if this is more."

"There hasn't been continuity," he said. "They'll start up, and then people graduate and leave. Then new people come and start them up. "We've had publications in science all along."

Is this year's trend just an upswing on the see-saw of student organizations? That depends upon the Harvard student body. If the interest shown by this group of undergraduates continues, science publications have a bright future on campus.