This free online book The Future of Supercomputing: An Interim Report is authored by Committee on the Future of Supercomputing, National Research Council.
Book Description
Supercomputers are systems that provide significantly greater sustained performance than is available from contemporary mainstream computer systems. In applications such as analysis of intelligence data, weather prediction, or climate projection, supercomputers enable the generation of information that would not otherwise be available or that could not be generated in time to be actionable. Supercomputing can also accelerate scientific research in important areas, such as physics, biology, or medicine.
It can augment experimentation or replace it with simulation, thus reducing the cost and increasing the accuracy
and repeatability of experimentation in science and engineering. Further, supercomputing has the potential to suggest entirely novel experiments that can revolutionize our perspective of the world. It enables faster evaluation of design alternatives, thus improving the quality of engineered products. The value of supercomputers derives from the problems they solve, not from the innovative technology they showcase. The technology must be motivated by the application requirements.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Supercomputing Past and Present
- Continuity and Predictability
- Future Supercomputing and Research
- The Role of Government in Supercomputing