I'm not sure that (3) is likely. Python offers a number of features: 1: It's easy to learn--this cannot be understated 2: With numpy and matplotlib, you can

I'm not sure that (3) is likely. Python offers a number of features: 1: It's easy to learn--this cannot be understated 2: With numpy and matplotlib, you can really hit the ground running 3: There is enough language support to extend applications to GUIS, webapps, etc. 4: There's a HUGE code base that's already moved over from straight fortran, C++, IDL, etc. 5: Binding old libraries (in fortran 77, C, etc.) is fairly straightforward. No one really wants to rewrite the BLAS libraries from scratch in javascript... 6: Moving forward, PyCuda allows GPU based computing 7: Just curious, what other languages would you suggest that can satisfy some of the above? Personally, I'm meeting more and more scientific programmers who use python and a combination of C/fortran for lower level work--having a common tongue is useful!