What was going on when I was born?

JUST as visitors flying into New York are often dazzled by the city's flickering lights on a clear night, so have scientists been fascinated and perplexed by the dim glows and multicolored lights produced by an enormous variety of animals in forests, in caves and in the ocean depths. From studies on the common lightning bugs captured by many a child on a warm summer night to the elusive ''flashlight fish'' of tropical waters, insect specialists, biochemists and other scientists have gained new insights into this light-producing ability, known as bioluminescence, furthering their understanding of animal and insect communication. Oceans are the home for many of the world's luminous creatures, which use the trait in a variety of ways. For example, several species of shrimp can regulate their bioluminescence, depending on the water temperature and color, to disguise their predator-tempting silhouettes. And several kinds of squid squirt out bioluminescent ''ink'' to confound predators while they swim to safer parts.

For the tens of thousands of supporters of President-elect Ronald Reagan who are in the Capital today, the inauguration of the 40th President of the United States amounts to much more than a change of administrations and a shift in philosophy of government. For many of them, Mr. Reagan's swearing-in at noon tomorrow means an end to years of waiting for the triumph of a politician and a cause they have followed with devotion through a long series of setbacks. For the Reagan faithful, not even the prospect of an inauguration upstaged by events in Iran can detract from the sweetness of a ceremony that, for the first time, will take place on the western side of the Capitol - facing the vast region from which the President-elect drew both his original support and a set of political ideas rooted in the values of the American frontier. Yet if this inauguration represents the end of a long wait for the Reagan camp, it also marks the high point of a political journey that began, by Mr. Reagan's reckoning, over 35 years ago in the unlikeliest of settings - aboard a rented motor boat on Lake Arrowhead in the San Gabriel Mountains of California.

What do you do after you've had a high-paying job directing 12,000 employees, managing an annual budget of more than $5 billion, and formulating national regulatory policy, and are suddenly out of work? The answer isn't obvious for Barbara Blum, who had the above credentials as deputy director of the Environmental Protection Agency, or for many others among the 600 women who were political appointees of the Carter Administration. All of them will be ''out on the concrete'' today, as Mrs. Blum put it in a recent interview, and most are finding it harder to find jobs than they had expected, particularly in business. The Carter men are not having that easy a time of it either. One high official, who attended a farewell party for Stuart E. Eizenstat last week, said that most of the people attending still had not found jobs. ''Everyone was asking, 'What are you going to do?' and everyone was answering, 'I haven't decided yet,''' she said.

American banks holding frozen Iranian assets denied yesterday that they were responsible for a negotiating snag that delayed the release of the American hostages. Spokesmen for the banks denied an Iranian assertion that the banks had sought to deny Iran any of its ''rightful claims'' or were otherwise responsible for thwarting the release of the hostages at the last minute. And they indicated willingness to meet the objections, as they understood them, of the Iranians, if they they did not go deeper than they seemed to yesterday. According to a report by the official Iranian press agency, Iran's chief negotiator for the hostage issue contended yesterday morning that the American banks had presented an 11-page appendix to an agreement that had been reached early Sunday morning.

''I think there will be a concern that all of us will feel until we know they're airborne, actually on their way, in view of the history of this whole thing.

CORTISONE, a powerful hormone hailed three decades ago as a miraculous treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, then quickly discovered to be as dangerous as it was useful, has now found its way into the medicine chests of millions of Americans as a nonprescription remedy for common skin ailments. Manufacturers report that the hydrocortisone creams, ointments, lotions and sprays introduced as over-the-counter products within the last year have already broadened the $350-million market for drugs derived from cortisone and enabled people to relieve annoying skin irritations too minor to warrant a doctor's attention. Cortisone is today the parent of more than a dozen widely used drugs, collectively called corticosteroids. They are so named because they belong to a group of chemicals known as steroids that have as their foundation a molecular structure of four carbon rings. Cortisone's story is an example of how an extremely valuable but hazardous drug can be manipulated chemically to create new, even more potent - and safer - drugs. It also illustrates how the euphoria of the 1940's and 1950's over ''miracle drugs'' has given way to today's realization that every drug has risks that can sometimes outweigh its benefits.

Carter is thwarted in wish to greet hostages as President A2 Carter's statement on settlement with Iran A2 Barbara Rosen endures another day of waiting A3 Texts of agreements between U.S. and Iran A4 Creation of claims commission is part of U.S.-Iran accord A5 U.S. says further talks will be held on release of supplies to Iran A7 International After 9 months, Liberia's soldiers are still novices in government A8 Brazil politicians limber up for first major elections in years A9 Around the World A11 U.S. clears way for delivery of military aid to Somalia A18 Mercury poisoning in Argentine babies is linked to diapers A18 Government/Politics I.R.S. challenges 'mail-order ministers' in Texas inquiry A14 Justices refuse to hear appeal by reporter who faces jail A20 Philadelphia Mayor and Council fight over land assessments A22 Child-care study challenges welfare stereotype A22 Ronald Reagan's long climb to the Presidency B1 Inaugural address largely the work of Reagan B2 Excerpts from seven previous inaugural addresses B2 Sinatra produces gala show for Reagan inaugural B2 A glimpse at the power structure under Reagan B3 Prosecutor terms Abscam inquiry 'bad' and 'immoral' B7 Excerpts from text of Governor's budget message B8 Carey proposes tax cuts for individuals and businesses B8 Governor Carey's 1981-82 budget praised by New York City B8 Science Times Cortisone, the Once and Future Miracle Drug C1 Examining Creatures That Glow in the Dark C1 The Antiscientific Dramatists at Work C1 Education: College That Start In Early C1 Science Q & A C2 The Man Who "Slept" for 10 Years C3 The Doctor's World C3 About Education C4 General Around the Nation A14 Arizona brothers face new trial in beating of Mexicans A22 Booming capital region now dominated by private business B4 Will of Mrs. Harris is read at Tarnower murder trial B5 Arts/Entertainment Few publishers are planning books on the hostages C7 Studios trying to win Oscars for actors through ads C7 "American Tongue in Cheek," a guide to language, is reviewed C9 Documentary film on Oppenheimer and A-bomb development opens C12 "Malice Aforethought" and "Circus" are on TV tonight C12 Style Notes on Fashion B10 Some bestsellers for spring B10 Reducing child custody fights B10 Sports Raiders and Eagles arrive in New Orleans for final workouts D19 State enters Roosevelt Raceway labor talks D19 Richard, holder of mark, wishes Bossy luck D19 Walker, Georgia football star, captivated by running D19 Authorities study involvement of a third player in point-shaving D21 B5 Judge advises Raiders and N.F.L. to settle dispute before trial D22 Westphal having little luck with new team, the Sonics D22 Features/Notes Man in the News: Behzad Nabavi, Iran's chief negotiator A6 Notes on People B7 Going Out Guide C6 News Analysis Richard J. Meislin on Governor Carey's budget message B9 Neil Amdur on the best and worst of the pro tennis tour D22 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A30 Unscrambling the Iranian egg Mr. Reagan's day Pitch and heave in Zimbabwe Unknowns about the Cabinet Letters A30 Tom Wicker: Reagan's mandate and his burden A31 Ross K. Baker: sayings for the Oval Office A31 Stanley H. Cath: hostages' families and the media A31 John B. Oakes: a ticking ecological time bomb A31

In a case that could affect the pension rights of millions of workers, the Supreme Court agreed today to decide whether an employer is required by Federal labor law to bargain with a union over the creation and management of a common type of pension fund. The Justices granted the Federal Government's request for review of a Federal appeals court ruling that management decisions concerning multi-employer trust funds are not subject to mandatory collective bargaining. Multi-employer funds are those established on an industrywide basis so that workers in trades like construction or mining can build up pension coverage while frequently changing employers. The funds can also provide for medical, welfare and other benefits.

Housing starts declined 1 percent in December, to 1.56 million at an annual rate, the first loss since May, and permits for future building plunged 9 percent in a possible indication of more trouble ahead, the Commerce Department reported today. The department also released figures showing that Americans' personal income rose nine-tenths of 1 percent last month, a pace almost certain to be less than the inflation rate. (Page D12.)

In an atmosphere of celebration, and high drama generated by the hostage crisis, Ronald Reagan prepared today to assume the Presidency at his inauguration tomorrow. Thousands of Mr. Reagan's supporters thronged this city for the long-awaited transfer of power, spending another day in a round of concerts, receptions and traffic jams. But Mr. Reagan himself remained secluded until sundown with aides at Blair House, where he got word in the afternoon that the hostages had still not been freed and that the final chapter to the 443-day-old crisis might well have to be written by his own administration. This morning, as President Carter's opportunity to welcome the hostages while still in office seemed to slip away, Mr. Reagan spoke with the President on the telephone to ask that he serve as a special envoy to greet the hostages in West Germany, even if their release came after Inauguration Day. Mr. Carter accepted a few hours later.

The U.S. will return almost half of Iran's frozen assets in return for the hostages. Washington also will accept international arbitration of some private American claims, and will support some Iranian claims against the late Shah's assets. U.S. officials emphasized that they would hand over to Iran only assets that had belonged to the Teheran Government prior to the revolution. (Page A5.) American banks denied Iran's charge that they had delayed release of the hostages. At issue was an appendix asking for Iranian concessions; the banks said they had no part in setting any added conditions to the inter-government agreements. (A1.)

ENMESHED in Judeo-Christian tradition is the notion that knowledge is sinful, and that when Adam's successors taste its forbidden fruit, they risk damnation. Whatever the theological merit of this viewpoint, sin and damnation are the stuff of drama, and campaigners against the exploitation of nuclear energy have appropriated drama as a weapon. At the Public Theater, a play and a movie, both presented by the New York Shakespeare Festival, portray scientists as sinners whose investigations of the atom culminated in the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That theme is not new, but in its latest metamorphosis scientific sin is depicted as something far larger than mere participation in the Manhattan Project or even in the building of the Three Mile Island reactor. In fact, the oblique thrust of the message seems to be that science, by its very nature, is a pathway to absolute evil. Sophisticated assaults on science seem to be falling on sympathetic ears these days. The play at the Public is called ''Dead End Kids: A History of Nuclear Power,'' and it has performed to capacity audiences for the last two months. The movie, ''The Day After Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb,'' begins a five-day stand at the Public Theater today, and it looks like a good prospect for film-festival prizes.