Selected papers of Jonathan Borwein and Peter Borwein

A selection of papers authored (or co-authored) by Jonathan Borwein and Peter Borwein has been published by PSIpress. The selection includes several papers of significant historical interest:

Jonathan Borwein and Peter Borwein, Experimental and computational mathematics: Selected writings, PSIpress, Portland, OR, 2010.

Here is a brief synopsis, from the publisher’s website:

A quiet revolution in mathematical computing and scientific visualization took place in the latter half of the 20th century. These developments have dramatically enhanced modes of mathematical insight and opportunities for “exploratory” computational experimentation. This volume collects the experimental and computational contributions of Jonathan and Peter Borwein over the

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December 20th, 2010 | Category: News | Comments are closed

German edition of The Computer as Crucible

A German translation of The Computer as Crucible, which was co-authored by one of the present bloggers, has been published by Springer-Verlag. Here is a synopsis of the English edition:

Keith Devlin and Jonathan Borwein, two well-known mathematicians with expertise in different mathematical specialties but with a common interest in experimentation in mathematics, have joined forces to create this introduction to experimental mathematics. They cover a variety of topics and examples to give the reader a good sense of the current state of play in the rapidly growing new field of experimental mathematics. The writing is clear and the explanations

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December 20th, 2010 | Category: News | Comments are closed

New book on performance science

A book on techniques for tuning the performance of large scientific computations has just been published by one of the present bloggers:

David H. Bailey, Robert F. Lucas and Samuel W. Williams, “Performance Tuning of Scientific Applications,” CRC Press (Taylor and Francis Group), Boca Raton, FL, 2011. Amazon.com.

Here is the press synopsis:

With contributions from some of the most notable experts in the field, Performance Tuning of Scientific Applications presents current research in performance analysis. Along with an overview of modern computer architecture, the book focuses on the following areas:

Performance monitoring: Describes the state of the art in

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December 20th, 2010 | Category: News | Comments are closed

IBM’s Watson to compete on Jeopardy! with Jennings with Rutter

As we mentioned in an earlier Blog post, IBM has been developing a state-of-the-art question-answering computer system, named “Watson” (for Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM).

The basic computer hardware is a module from IBM’s “BlueGene” series, which, in the configuration used for this research project, would cost somewhat over $1,000,000. The software employs some state-of-the-art techniques for automatically extracting information from large files and databases. After completion of the project, IBM intends to market this system as an intelligent natural-language information query system. Potential uses range from a tool for online user support personnel to corporate planning

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December 14th, 2010 | Category: News | Comments are closed

Ancient math puzzles in 3600-year-old Egyptian papyrus

Many are familiar with the old and amusing puzzle “As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives…” Recently scholars examining the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (c. 1650 BCE) were started to find a surprisingly similar version: Seven houses have seven cats that each eat seven mice that each eat seven grains of barley. Each barley grain would have produced seven hekat of grain. (One hekat was roughly 1.3 gallons.) So how many total items are described? Answer: 19,607.

The Rhind papyrus, which dates to 1650 B.C., is one of several papyri exhibiting ancient Egypt’s mathematical

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December 6th, 2010 | Category: News | Comments are closed