in areas such as number of publications or (claimed) proximity to applications. It is important to remember that such comparisons are appropriate only at similar stages of development.

Finally, even well-established researchers often face considerable intellectual opposition in venturing into new interdisciplinary areas. In an application discussed below (solitons in telecommunications), a leading researcher in the field had considerable difficulty in convincing engineers that solitons were not just some mathematical construct.

Thus, the interdisciplinary nature of nonlinear science requires special administrative and financial mechanisms to ensure that advances in basic research can be transferred to applied areas. Managers responsible for guiding research and development must pay close attention to improving mechanisms for facilitating this intellectual technology transfer from basic research in nonlinear science to the programmatic areas of their organizations.