Their aim was to become instant experts on a nation in post-revolutionary turmoil and to make a play about what they had seen.

Because competitive pressures and high billing rates require "instant experts" in each field, there has been a movement toward early specialization.

Scientists warn that "instant experts" at computer analysis, either naive or unscrupulous, sometimes appear in courts or insurance proceedings.

Missouri recently named a homeland security adviser, and many emergency directors around the country are putting aside their tornado playbooks and becoming instant experts on vaccines and small nuclear devices.

Whatever their other qualifications, they know what the tube likes, and have earned their labels of "instant experts," "media professors" and "quote doctors."

The Greenbergs became instant experts on international adoption in the early 1970's, when they sought to adopt a baby.

Whatever the sport, those other club owners suddenly think of themselves as instant experts.

In an era of pundits and instant experts, Mr. Barnett was refreshingly humbled by his subject.

"We're not trying to make instant experts out of our attorneys," Mr. Fairchild said.

Charlie Rose actually polls instant experts on O. J.'s guilt or innocence, yielding to the story's bread-and-circus appeal.