100

COMPUTER SIMULATIONUNDERPINS MUCHOFMODERN

LIFE,FROMWEATHER FORECASTINGTOTHE DESIGN OF

OURPCs.MIKE BEDFORDLOOKSATTHE ROLE PLAYED

BY THETECHNOLOGY, WHILEACKNOWLEDGING THAT IT

DOESN’TALWAYSGET THINGSRIGHT

The

DIGITAL

CRYSTAL

BALL

I

t’sasciencethatwasknownto theancients.What’s

more,theearliestcomputingdeviceeverdiscovered,

datingbackover2,000years,wasbuiltforthis

purpose.Butunlikemuchoftheso-calledwisdomof

timesgoneby –andherewecouldmentionalchemy, sorceryand

numerology–thisknow-howisaliveandwell,andadrivingforce

behindmuchof today’sscienceandtechnology. Thedisciplinein

questionissimulation,somethingthatbecameevermore

achievablewiththeadventof electroniccomputers.

Hereweinvestigatethetechnologyof computersimulation,

illustratingitwithexampleswhereanear-perfectrepresentation

of realityisachieved,allowingengineersto makedecisionswith

confidence. Ithastobeadmitted,however,thattherearesome

aspectsof theworld aroundusthatdefy allattemptsto be

simulated,howevergoodourcomputersandsoftware, andwe

also delveintothissomewhatsurprisingassertion.