Some thoughts on computation Ian Foster Computation Institute Argonne National Lab & University of Chicago

“ Applied computer science is now playing the role that mathematics did from the 17th through the 20th centuries: providing an orderly, formal framework and exploratory apparatus for other sciences” – G. Djorgovski

“ Applied computer science is now playing the role that mathematics did from the 17th through the 20th centuries: providing an orderly, formal framework and exploratory apparatus for other sciences”

– G. Djorgovski

Knowledge generation in astronomy ~1600 30 years ? years 10 years 6 years 2 years

Knowledge generation in astronomy ~1600 30 years ? years 10 years 6 years 2 years

Astronomy, from 1600 to 2000 Automation 10 -1  10 8 Hz data capture Community 10 0  10 4 astronomers (+10 6 amateur) Computation Data 10 6  10 15 B aggregate 10 -1  10 15 Hz peak Literature 10 1  10 5 pages/year

Denning’s “great principles” Computation Communication Coordination Recollection Automation Evaluation Design

Computation

Communication

Coordination

Recollection

Automation

Evaluation

Design

NAE Grand Challenges

A C ommunity I ntegrated M odel for E conomic a nd R esource T rajectories for H umankind ( CIM-EARTH ) Dynamics, foresight, uncertainty, resolution, … Agriculture, transport, taxation, … Data (global, local, …) (Super) computers CIM-EARTH Framework Community process Open code, data www.cim-earth.org

for most people, computing in the large is more important than computing in the small

for most people, computing in the large is more important than computing in the small

The world includes many analog components

Thank you! Computation Institute www.ci.uchicago.edu www.ci.anl.gov