What is it about?

The article explains how the rapid evolution of computing technology and its enormous success in accelerating science has lead to a major communication problem: computational scientists explain their scientific models to computers but no longer to their peers. This analysis is the basis for suggestions for improving the situation.

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Why is it important?

Scientific discourse is the main error-correction mechanism of scientific research. Good scientific work is work that stands up to criticism by other competent scientists. We cannot allow computational models and methods to remain excluded from critical examination.

Perspectives

This article expresses concerns that I have developed in the course of 25 years of using computers for doing research. Computational models and methods have become much more complex over time, and scientific software has suffered even more from complexification. Whereas 25 years ago most researchers wrote their own software, it is normal today for scientists to apply software whose working they do not understand. Erroneous use in inevitable under such circumstances.

Dr Konrad Hinsen
Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire (CNRS UPR4301)

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This page is a summary of: Computational science: shifting the focus from tools to models, F1000Research, May 2014, F1000Research,
DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.3978.1.
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