Scientific Software Systems

The main aim of this book is to present a broader view of scientific software than has been common in the past. The provision of scientific software is no longer a matter of just writing 'good computer programs', but rather it is concerned with the development of an integrated software system wI-,ich offers the user facilities which approach all that he needs in terms of speed, accuracy and convenience. This means that due account must, for example, be taken of the high-speed computing capabilities of parallel processors, the exact computing features of symbolic mathematical systems, the presentational potentialities of computer graphics, and the advisory aspects of knowledge-based and expert systems. When suites of numerical software programs or routines are supported by such ranges of facilities, then they can be justly described as 'scientific software systems', and that is why we have adopted such a title here. The assembly of this book was a direct consequence of the running of a one-day international symposium, with the same broad aim of advocating a 'systems approach', under the title 'Scientific Software and Systems'. This Symposium was held at the Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) in Shrivenham on July 11, 1988 and was attended by 85 people. A very busy but most enjoyable day included invited talks, poster presentations and demonstrations of software products, not to mention various social activi- ties.