Supercomputing and the Transformation of Science (Scientific American Library) [Paperback]

William J. Kaufmann (Author), Larry L. Smarr (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0716750384 | ISBN-13: 978-0716750383 | Publication Date: January 1993

The development of the supercomputer has given scientists an awesome new capability: the power to virtually re-create the physical world on the computer screen, with a stunning degree of precision and sophistication. Everything from weather systems to biochemical interactions to car crashes to air pollution to high speed subatomic particle collisions can now be simulated, manipulated, and observed at the scientist's will. The fascinating, strikingly illustrated Supercomputing and the Transformation often' provides a state of the art look at the capabilities and scientific contributions of the most powerful computers. Written bv noted science author William Kaufmann and supercomputing expert Larry Smarr, the book examines the hardware, software, and techniques of supercomputing, showing how these powerful machines 'solve' the mathematical laws that govern natural phenomena and convert the numbers into comprehensive visual images. The book then explores the impact of this extraordinary technologv on a wide range of endeavors from medicine to environmental protection, from particle physics to astronomy, from automobile'design to meteorologv.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: W H Freeman & Co (January 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716750384
• ISBN-13: 978-0716750383
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,420,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big and fast iron, November 26, 2000

By 

Howard Schneider (Thornhill, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Supercomputing and the Transformation of Science (Scientific American Library) (Paperback)

Easy to read overview of the field of supercomputing. Describes technologies (eg, relays to highly integrated circuits) and architectures (eg, scalar to vector, multiprocessor and massively parallel) used to effect supercomputing. Describes applications of supercomputing in physics, in constructing evolutionary trees from sequencing data, in molecular biology, engineering, planetary sciences, weather forecasting, and cosmology.

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful old book, still relevant, November 5, 2009

By 

John Mashey (Portola Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Supercomputing and the Transformation of Science (Scientific American Library) (Paperback)

This is a great book to learn about the ways in which various areas of science and engineering have learned to use increased computing power. It is well-written by knowledgeable people, and is beautifully illustrated. Of course, the computers mentioned in the book are long obsolete [we have many of them at the Computer History Museum], but that does not matter, as the general methods remain. Of course, today, a desktop PC or server has more compute power than the multi-$M machines used when the book was written.

It would be nice if there were a newer version of this, are a similar book written more recently, but I don't know of any such (and I've asked around). So, this book is inexpensive, and very well worth owning.