Referring to matters of learning/teaching computational science
5
votes
2answers
113 views
Is computational science recommended as part of the typical undergraduate curriculum every computer science department should teach?
Computational science remains uncommon in many computer science departments, particularly in universities without an engineering school. Is it not considered part of the standard computer science ...
3
votes
3answers
121 views
Difference between Computational science and Computational X (X = some natural science or discipline)
Where is the divide between a computational scientist and a computational X (X = some natural science or discipline)? What questions could someone ask themself to decide which is the best route for ...
4
votes
1answer
151 views
Recommendation for a python book for data processing
I've been doing FORTRAN programming for 10 years and I've started using python for a few years now, mostly for data processing. I've been lucky enough to work with people that are knowledgeable ...
10
votes
7answers
626 views
Does Computational Science involve programming?
I read about computational science on Wikipedia, but my understanding is not very clear.
Does computational science involve programming? How different is computational science from computational ...
1
vote
1answer
148 views
How are collisions detected in simulations?
I want to understand how does the simulation identifies and models when two bodies are colliding with each other. For example car crash simulation. The car moves towards the wall or another crash. ...
8
votes
3answers
355 views
Priorities for learning computational methods, when should I write my own code vs. using libraries as a beginning graduate student?
I am beginning my graduate studies in engineering and will be working on computational science projects. I noticed that there has been some discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of ...
0
votes
0answers
114 views
Computational/Numerical linear algebra summer program [closed]
Feel free to close this question if it is inappropriate for the site. I am asking this since questions like these are accepted in math stack-exchange and math overflow.
I am a grad student and will ...
8
votes
1answer
671 views
Universities known for computational physics
I am very interested in computational physics and it is great lot of fun studying these topics. Since I am planning to go one semester abroad, I was wondering what universities are known for ...
8
votes
4answers
477 views
How can we evaluate performance of students in computational science courses?
As someone who has to teach courses in computational science, I am confronted with the age-old question: how do I evaluate the ability of the students to learn a subject that depends on applications ...
2
votes
1answer
145 views
Power series approximation for any function such as $-e^{x^{2}}$ in some easily-accessed open-source software?
My comrades repeatedly encourages monotonous problems where the issue is the same: chain-rule and some basic arithmetic. Is there some computational way to derive power series approximations? Suppose ...
34
votes
7answers
2k views
What core skills should every computational scientist have? [closed]
Every scientist needs to know a bit about statistics: what correlation means, what a confidence interval is, and so on. Similarly, every scientist ought to know a bit about computing: the question is, ...
12
votes
7answers
530 views
Is there any open-source or easy-to-access software that can simplify algebraic expressions like $x^{2}+2x+3, x=\sqrt{2}t-1$?
I always calculate things by hand, but now my comrades are getting nasty and making a lot of repetitive exercises involving just plugging things in like the expression above. I am particularly ...
11
votes
1answer
219 views
How effective is the 'tendrils of knowledge' approach to Comp. Sci?
I was reading this on Math SE. The basic question is :
Assume that someone wishes to study something advanced; one way to do this would be to start off from basics and build up. But the "bigger ...
8
votes
5answers
499 views
Is it preferable to concentrate on studying math or computation?
Concurrent to my research on Krylov Subspace Methods, I have the option of exploring mathematics behind HPC a step ahead or the theory of computation (hardware, OS, compilers etc.).
Currently, I know ...
3
votes
5answers
380 views
Introductions to hp-FEM
do you know good introductions into or surveys $hp$-adaptive finite elements?
In particular I do not know how the heuristics for choosing spatial refinement or increased polynomial degree are ...
11
votes
3answers
379 views
How should I study creating and programming HPC systems?
I'm in a field that doesn't necessarily do a great deal of HPC work, and when it does encounter it, it's often the result of researchers from other fields exploring new applications to their methods ...
23
votes
5answers
710 views
Is algorithmic analysis by flop-counting obsolete?
In my numerical analysis courses, I learned to analyze the efficiency of algorithms by counting the number of floating-point operations (flops) they require, relative to the size of the problem. For ...
