Assessing future application computing needs, this text identifies research directions in problem-solving environments (PSEs), addresses multi-disciplinary environments operating on the Web, proposes methodologies and software architectures for building adaptive and human-centered PSEs, and describes the role of symbolic computing in scientific and engineering PSEs. The book also includes an extensive bibliography of over 400 references. The text illustrates the extremely broad and interdisciplinary nature of the creation and application of PSEs. Authors represent academia, government laboratories and industry, and come from eight distinct disciplines (chemical engineering, computer science, ecology, electrical engineering, mathematics, mechanical engineering, psychology and wood sciences). This breadth and diversity extends into the computer science aspects of PSEs. These papers deal with topics such as artificial intelligence, computer-human interaction, control, data mining, graphics, language design and implementation, networking, numerical analysis, performance evaluation, and symbolic computing.