The Future Role of Computers with Special Reference to Aerodynamic Design
The computer is seen as the greatest invention in history, in that it has a universality which transcends all other known inventions. It will ultimately be capable ot any process describable in terms ot an open or closed logical structure. In a deterministic science such as aeronautics, it has clear capabilities in the solution of the equations governing fluid flow, structures, propulsion, navigation and so on. The speed and size of future computers, together with all sorts of new software techniques, will facilitate almost instantaneous solutions of any problems, within the next century. There will be two major constraints on these developments which we can predict with confidence. The first is financial. The second is more subtle: there may develop sociological resistance to technological advances, especially to those wielding the power implicit in future generations of computers, and this carries important implications for scientists.
