Solitons, numerical experiments, and that mysterious lady
DOI: 10.1063/1.4796908
Rediscovering Mary Tsingou’s role in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam problem is laudable. However, Thierry Dauxois is incorrect in calling the FPU problem “the first-ever numerical experiment” that marked the beginning of “computer simulations of scientific problems.”
Lewis F. Richardson’s landmark 1922 work on numerical weather prediction predated the FPU problem by more than three decades and far surpasses it in complexity. 1 The first successful numerical weather forecast was performed on the ENIAC computer in 1950 by a team of scientists that included John von Neumann. 2 Both of those numerical experiments were highly nonlinear in character and involved approximations of the Navier–Stokes equation. Dauxois’s oversight confirms the statement that “meteorologists … are the Rodney Dangerfields of science. They get no respect from … physics and chemistry.” 3
References
1. L. F. Richardson, Weather Prediction by Numerical Process, Cambridge U. Press, Cambridge, UK (1922).
2. J. G. Charney, R. Fjörtoft, J. von Neumann, Tellus 2, 237 (1950).https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2153-3490.1950.tb00336.x
3. J. Fishman, R. Kalish, The Weather Revolution: Innovations and Imminent Breakthroughs in Accurate Forecasting, Plenum Press, New York (1994), p. 29.
More about the Authors
John Knox. 1(johnknox@.uga.edu) University of Georgia, Athens, US .
