Simulation for All

The Politics of Supercomputing in Stuttgart
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-3-0340-1621-6
Verlag: Chronos

Buch, Englisch, 156 Seiten, Format (B × H): 125 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 333 g

Supercomputing refers to exclusive processing at the outer limit of computability – controversial, politically attractive, and very expensive.
David Gugerli and Ricky Wichum explore the development of supercomputing in Stuttgart since 1970, and the surprising twists, operational crises, and new technologies it entailed. For example, who would have expected that expansion of Stuttgart’s computing center in the 1970s would be capped off with the installation of an outdated supercomputer? Or that the spectacular acquisition of the world’s fastest computer in the 1980s would be followed by a years-long quest for users and suitable forms of operation? When, in the 1990s, the Internet made global connectivity possible, Stuttgart was at the forefront, flaunting its dominance in a display of transatlantic experiments. Yet the practical question of what to do with supercomputing was ultimately decided at home, in Germany. The proper management of “users” and extending services to Europe occupied much of the 2000s. By then, previously unanticipated limits to growth had become apparent in the hardware.
Told from a history of technology perspective, this study shows that productive supercomputing requires the constant reconfiguring of computers, science, industry, and policy.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gugerli, David

Wichum, Ricky

Inhaltsverzeichnis

User’s guide

The centrality issue (1972–1987)

Gaining dominance

Planning crisis and a flood of proposals

Attempted resuscitation

Shaping policy and organizational structure

A diversity of machines

Shielding users from complexity

Communicating to the public

The performance gambit (1988–1996)

Simulation for all

The cost of visualizing computing output

The false security of benchmarks

Autonomy through regional cooperation

Stuttgart’s two-pronged solution

Network to the rescue (1997–2005)

Feasibility study for a national

high-performance computing network

Metacomputing – a transatlantic experiment

Does the university really need an HLRS?

Grid computing extends a lifeline

Users at work (2006–2016)

Taking it easy

With Gauss to Europe

Virtual users, and users in virtual reality

Limits to growth

A history of reconfiguration

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

List of figures

Über Autor(innen)

Wichum, Ricky
Ricky Wichum was born in 1982. He is teaching the history of technology at ETH Zurich. His research focuses on the historical sociology of computer-based information systems in public administration.

Gugerli, David
David Gugerli was born in 1961. He is a professor of history of technology at ETH Zurich. His research focuses on the question
of how the world got into the computer.