Introduction to the Professions
Biology, Chemistry, and Physics 100
lecture notes for Tuesday-Thursday, 18-20 November 2003

Simulation Science

Many months ago we defined science as the application of the experimental method to the understanding of natural phenomena. This definition does not encompass all activities that people traditionally think of as scientific, but it does embrace:

We now introduce another mechanism for doing science: computer-based modeling of scientific systems. We'll use the term "simulation science" to describe this type of modeling. Modelers or simulators are doing science in that they manipulate the parameters that define their computer model to help them understand the affects of various variables on the real system being modeled.