Relatively little known outside of Germany, Konrad Zuse realized the first functioning computer in 1941 and also developed with his so-called Plankalkül in 1943-1945 the first high-level programming language, However, his inventions were overshadowed by World War II, and his work was overtaken in the public mind by the works of Aiken and von Neumann. This essay, a shortened and revised version of a eulogy by the author in December 1996 at the celebration of Zuse's 80th birthday at his former alma mater, the Technical University of Berlin, gives an overview of Zuse's work and puts his contributions in context.
{"title":"Konrad Zuse: reflections on the 80th birthday of the German computing pioneer","authors":"W. Giloi","doi":"10.1145/290590.290591","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/290590.290591","url":null,"abstract":"Relatively little known outside of Germany, Konrad Zuse realized the first functioning computer in 1941 and also developed with his so-called Plankalkül in 1943-1945 the first high-level programming language, However, his inventions were overshadowed by World War II, and his work was overtaken in the public mind by the works of Aiken and von Neumann. This essay, a shortened and revised version of a eulogy by the author in December 1996 at the celebration of Zuse's 80th birthday at his former alma mater, the Technical University of Berlin, gives an overview of Zuse's work and puts his contributions in context.","PeriodicalId":177516,"journal":{"name":"ACM Signum Newsletter","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117002163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Newton's method for solving polynomial equations converges only linearly to a multiple root. The speed of several methods for accelerating the convergence have been compared numerically. The Madsen-Reid method proved to be the fastest, with the Aitken and Ostrowsky methods close behind.
{"title":"A comparison of methods for accelerating convergence of Newton's method for multiple polynomial roots","authors":"J. McNamee","doi":"10.1145/290590.290592","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/290590.290592","url":null,"abstract":"Newton's method for solving polynomial equations converges only linearly to a multiple root. The speed of several methods for accelerating the convergence have been compared numerically. The Madsen-Reid method proved to be the fastest, with the Aitken and Ostrowsky methods close behind.","PeriodicalId":177516,"journal":{"name":"ACM Signum Newsletter","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129783192","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We look at how both logical restructuring and improvements available from successive versions of Fortran allow us to reduce the complexity (measured by a number of the commonly used software metrics) of the Level 1 BLAS code used to compute the modified Givens transformation. With these reductions in complexity we claim that we have improved both the maintainability and clarity of the code; in addition, we report a fix to a minor problem with the original code. The performance of two commercial Fortran restructuring tools is also reported.
{"title":"Restructuring the BLAS level 1 routine for computing the modified givens transformation","authors":"T. Hopkins","doi":"10.1145/289251.289253","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/289251.289253","url":null,"abstract":"We look at how both logical restructuring and improvements available from successive versions of Fortran allow us to reduce the complexity (measured by a number of the commonly used software metrics) of the Level 1 BLAS code used to compute the modified Givens transformation. With these reductions in complexity we claim that we have improved both the maintainability and clarity of the code; in addition, we report a fix to a minor problem with the original code. The performance of two commercial Fortran restructuring tools is also reported.","PeriodicalId":177516,"journal":{"name":"ACM Signum Newsletter","volume":"68 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115032412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Numerous authors of programming texts and algorithms / data structures texts develop code for the binary search. The common implementation is one in which the loop contains two comparisons for three outcomes --- the key is to the left of the midpoint, to the right of the midpoint, or exactly at the midpoint --- Implementation A below.
{"title":"Analytic derivation of comparisons in binary search","authors":"T. Rolfe","doi":"10.1145/289251.289255","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/289251.289255","url":null,"abstract":"Numerous authors of programming texts and algorithms / data structures texts develop code for the binary search. The common implementation is one in which the loop contains two comparisons for three outcomes --- the key is to the left of the midpoint, to the right of the midpoint, or exactly at the midpoint --- Implementation A below.","PeriodicalId":177516,"journal":{"name":"ACM Signum Newsletter","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121242840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Using Cubpack++ to approximate a double integral requires from users that they write a small C++ program. Although example programs are provided, this still introduces a treshold. This short note describes an interface to Cubpack++ that relieves users from any need to write C++.
{"title":"An interactive program to approximate double integrals: an easy to use interface for Cubpack++","authors":"B. Maerten, R. Cools","doi":"10.1145/270439.270441","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/270439.270441","url":null,"abstract":"Using Cubpack++ to approximate a double integral requires from users that they write a small C++ program. Although example programs are provided, this still introduces a treshold. This short note describes an interface to Cubpack++ that relieves users from any need to write C++.","PeriodicalId":177516,"journal":{"name":"ACM Signum Newsletter","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122666539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The sun is a practically limitless source of energy. In some areas, solar cells enable us to use this source. In many places on Earth, however, clouds prevent us from tapping into solar energy. To use this energy, researchers have proposed placing solar cells on a satellite and beaming the collected energy down to the Earth.The problem with this solution is that the resulting high-energy beam is highly dangerous. Instead of using a single beam, we propose to use several beams from different satellites; this configuration will enable us to beam the energy to practically any location on Earth without endangering other locations. Since errors can be extremely dangerous, we need verified computations (i.e., interval computations) to compute the parameters of the beams. Thus, interval computations are useful for transmitting energy from space.
{"title":"Energy from space: a new potential application of interval computations","authors":"M. Koshelev, S. Starks","doi":"10.1145/270439.270443","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/270439.270443","url":null,"abstract":"The sun is a practically limitless source of energy. In some areas, solar cells enable us to use this source. In many places on Earth, however, clouds prevent us from tapping into solar energy. To use this energy, researchers have proposed placing solar cells on a satellite and beaming the collected energy down to the Earth.The problem with this solution is that the resulting high-energy beam is highly dangerous. Instead of using a single beam, we propose to use several beams from different satellites; this configuration will enable us to beam the energy to practically any location on Earth without endangering other locations. Since errors can be extremely dangerous, we need verified computations (i.e., interval computations) to compute the parameters of the beams. Thus, interval computations are useful for transmitting energy from space.","PeriodicalId":177516,"journal":{"name":"ACM Signum Newsletter","volume":"32 1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130439186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We studied Several simulation programming codes. Based on our findings, the following suggestions may be necessary in the development of reliable simulation packages: 1) avoid global storage assignment in coding; 2) construct modular programming structure in implementation; 3) employ simple schemes in computation; 4) do not introduce pseudo-physical term in modeling; 5) engage reasonable time interval in run; and 6) establish solution verification in use.
{"title":"Some suggestions on the implementation of reliable simulations","authors":"Yi-ling F. Chiang","doi":"10.1145/260538.262783","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/260538.262783","url":null,"abstract":"We studied Several simulation programming codes. Based on our findings, the following suggestions may be necessary in the development of reliable simulation packages: 1) avoid global storage assignment in coding; 2) construct modular programming structure in implementation; 3) employ simple schemes in computation; 4) do not introduce pseudo-physical term in modeling; 5) engage reasonable time interval in run; and 6) establish solution verification in use.","PeriodicalId":177516,"journal":{"name":"ACM Signum Newsletter","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125500434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
It is well known that, in Newton's method, a real guess cannot converge to a complex zero of a real polynomial. Actually for the class of RR-weighted methods including those of Newton and Halley, a guess lying on a reflective symmetry axis of the zeros produces only iterates on the same axis; multiple symmetry axes intersect at the centroid C; a nearby guess gives approximations to either C or ∞. Irrational Newton-like method fare much better, but local symmetry can still lead to rebounding, calling for special detection and recovery algorithms.
{"title":"Symmetry and nonconvergence in iterative polynomial zero-finding","authors":"T. C. Chen","doi":"10.1145/260538.262785","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/260538.262785","url":null,"abstract":"It is well known that, in Newton's method, a real guess cannot converge to a complex zero of a real polynomial. Actually for the class of RR-weighted methods including those of Newton and Halley, a guess lying on a reflective symmetry axis of the zeros produces only iterates on the same axis; multiple symmetry axes intersect at the centroid C; a nearby guess gives approximations to either C or ∞. Irrational Newton-like method fare much better, but local symmetry can still lead to rebounding, calling for special detection and recovery algorithms.","PeriodicalId":177516,"journal":{"name":"ACM Signum Newsletter","volume":"357 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122718845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper is a short overview of our NASA-supported research into the necessity of using interval-based intelligent control techniques for space exploration. This is a reasonably new application area for interval computations, and we hope that the overviewed results and problems will be of some interest to the numerical computations community.This paper is a short version of our detailed report presented to NASA.
{"title":"Intelligent control in space exploration: interval computations are needed","authors":"H. Nguyen, V. Kreinovich","doi":"10.1145/260538.260540","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/260538.260540","url":null,"abstract":"This paper is a short overview of our NASA-supported research into the necessity of using interval-based intelligent control techniques for space exploration. This is a reasonably new application area for interval computations, and we hope that the overviewed results and problems will be of some interest to the numerical computations community.This paper is a short version of our detailed report presented to NASA.","PeriodicalId":177516,"journal":{"name":"ACM Signum Newsletter","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115049450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
One of the major human activities is solving problems. It is desirable to be able to predict whether a problem will be solved or not or, more precisely, the probability that a person can solve a problem. This probability can be estimated based on previous experience of people solving similar problems.Then, it is necessary to somehow describe the ability of the problem-solvers as well as the difficulty of the problems. This can be done by assigning to each problem or problem solver a rating, i.e., a number that represents the skill of the problem solver or the difficulty of the problem.In this paper, we propose to use a rating system developed in sports to other real-life problems, including rating of numerical packages.
{"title":"How to rate numerical packages? Foundations of ratings, and their possible use in numerical mathematics, in education, and in military design","authors":"Raúl Ramírez, V. Kreinovich","doi":"10.1145/260538.260539","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/260538.260539","url":null,"abstract":"One of the major human activities is solving problems. It is desirable to be able to predict whether a problem will be solved or not or, more precisely, the probability that a person can solve a problem. This probability can be estimated based on previous experience of people solving similar problems.Then, it is necessary to somehow describe the ability of the problem-solvers as well as the difficulty of the problems. This can be done by assigning to each problem or problem solver a rating, i.e., a number that represents the skill of the problem solver or the difficulty of the problem.In this paper, we propose to use a rating system developed in sports to other real-life problems, including rating of numerical packages.","PeriodicalId":177516,"journal":{"name":"ACM Signum Newsletter","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114681234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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