From numerical analysis to computational science

Introduction The modern development of numerical computing is driven by the rapid increase in computer performance. The present exponential growth approximately follows Moore's law, doubling in capacity every eighteen months. Numerical computing has, of course, been part of mathematics for a very long time. Algorithms by the names of Euclid, Newton and Gauss, originally designed for computation "by hand", are still used today in computer simulations. The electronic computer originated from the intense research and development done during the second world war. In the early applications of these computers the computational techniques that were designed for calculation by pencil and paper or tables and mechanical machines were directly implemented on the new devices. Together with a deeper understanding of the computational processes new algorithms soon emerged. The foundation of modern numerical analysis was built in the period from the late forties to the late fifties. It became justi
NR 20140805