Stoneham A M
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2002 Jun 15;360(1795):1107-21. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2002.0985.
Computing comprises three distinct strands: hardware, software and the ways they are used in real or imagined worlds. Its use in research is more than writing or running code. Having something significant to compute and deploying judgement in what is attempted and achieved are especially challenging. In science or engineering, one must define a central problem in computable form, run such software as is appropriate and, last but by no means least, convince others that the results are both valid and useful. These several strands are highly interdependent. A major scientific development can transform disparate aspects of information and computer technologies. Computers affect the way we do science, as well as changing our personal worlds. Access to information is being transformed, with consequences beyond research or even science. Creativity in research is usually considered uniquely human, with inspiration a central factor. Scientific and technological needs are major forces in innovation, and these include hardware and software opportunities. One can try to define the scientific needs for established technologies (atomic energy, the early semiconductor industry), for rapidly developing technologies (advanced materials, microelectronics) and for emerging technologies (nanotechnology, novel information technologies). Did these needs define new computing, or was science diverted into applications of then-available codes? Regarding credibility, why is it that engineers accept computer realizations when designing engineered structures, whereas predictive modelling of materials has yet to achieve industrial confidence outside very special cases? The tensions between computing and traditional science are complex, unpredictable and potentially powerful.
硬件、软件以及它们在现实世界或想象世界中的使用方式。它在研究中的应用不仅仅是编写或运行代码。确定有重要意义的计算内容，并在尝试和取得的成果中运用判断力，尤其具有挑战性。在科学或工程领域，必须以可计算的形式定义一个核心问题，运行合适的软件，而且最后但同样重要的是，要让其他人相信结果既有效又有用。这几个方面高度相互依存。一项重大的科学进展可以改变信息和计算机技术的不同方面。计算机影响着我们进行科学研究的方式，也改变着我们的个人世界。信息获取正在发生变革，其影响超出了研究甚至科学的范畴。研究中的创造力通常被认为是人类独有的，灵感是一个核心因素。科技需求是创新的主要推动力，其中包括硬件和软件方面的机遇。人们可以尝试确定对成熟技术（原子能、早期半导体产业）、快速发展技术（先进材料、微电子学）和新兴技术（纳米技术、新型信息技术）的科学需求。这些需求是定义了新的计算方式，还是科学被引入了当时现有代码的应用之中？关于可信度，为什么工程师在设计工程结构时会接受计算机模拟结果，而材料的预测建模除了在非常特殊的情况下尚未获得行业的信任呢？计算与传统科学之间的矛盾复杂、不可预测且可能具有强大的影响力。
