Historically, simulations have tended to be narrowly focused on a single domain within a single field. A major factor in this has been the availability of adequate computer processing capabilities. Today, while computing power is still an issue in many fields such as quantum chemistry, advances in hardware and software have greatly reduced it in many others. For example:

Multiphysics treats simulations that involve multiple physical models. For example, combining chemical kinetics and fluid mechanics or combining finite elements with molecular dynamics. Multiphysics typically involves solving coupled systems of partial differential equations.

Wikipedia

Today I attended a webinar on Multiphysics Simulations for Electrical Engineers. I think they’ll have the video up in a day or so but the slides are online now. One slide points out that:

• “Single physics”approach is limited since no phenomenon is isolated

• Today’s engineering challenges demand that multiphysics be addressed

An awesome introductory CD is available from COMSOL, the sponsors of this webinar. Simulations in the context of Rhythmeering will need to blur the boundries even further to support other sciences, art, law and business processes. Within each of these fields a body of math will be required to drive the simulation. This math will typically be in the form of the same partial differential equations COMSOL Multiphysics uses because the heat equation has many applications such as the Black-Scholes equation used for pricing financial derivatives. Rhythmeering looks to unify simulations for all fields, in the same way multiphysics does for engineering.

Advanced 3D graphics allow us to do incredible visualizations and some believe we will eventually be able to see what exactly we mean. The appeal of powerful simulation/visualization has always been that it facilitates understanding of complex phenomena:

MONIAC had been designed to be used as a teaching aid but was discovered also to be an effective economic simulator. At the time that MONIAC was created, electronic digital computers that could run complex economic simulations were unavailable. In 1949 the few computers in existence were restricted to government and military use. Neither did they have adequate visual display facilities, so were unable to illustrate the operation of complex models. Observing the MONIAC in operation made it much easier for students to understand the interrelated processes of a national economy. The range of organisations that acquired a MONIAC showed that it was used in both capacities.
Wikipedia: MONIAC Computer

In The Roots of Hardware and elsewhere, I’ve spoken about the software-hardware relationship from a bird’s-eye view, but it can be helpful to zoom in a bit to see what’s important about the relationship. Ice and water are made of the same chemical compound - H2O, but in different states. One could cook or wash with ice cubes but things won’t work out as well as with water. Similarly, it would be ineffective to store perishable food in water. Hardware and software are both made from the same mathematical elements - boolean logic, but in different states. Hardware is fast but inflexible. Software has unlimited flexibility but runs more slowly. It wouldn’t be wise to program a payroll system into hardware because requirements can change. 3D graphics software without hardware assistance runs very slowly. I should note that a short but very powerful book - The Pattern on the Stone demystifies computers making it possible for anyone, regardless of technical background/aptitude to understand the basic inner workings of computing.

In our bodies ice is non-existent. Throughout the ecosystems we typically frequent each day, liquid water is more abundant and useful than ice. The same should be true of software and hardware but today’s hardware dominates the information ecosystem. This prematurely crystallized software frequently serves as an impediment to innovation.

Hardware is really just software crystallized early. It is there to make program schemes run as efficiently as possible. But far too often the hardware has been presented as a given and it is up to software designers to make it appear reasonable. This has caused low-level techniques and excessive optimization to hold back progress in program design. … In short, most hardware designs today are just re-optimizations of moribund architectures.

Alan Kay: The Early History of Smalltalk

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From Jazz Impact, I found this link:

Leading a company is often compared to conducting an orchestra. But organizing a jazz band may be a more appropriate analogy. That’s because business leaders increasingly want to set free the creative juices of individuality while maintaining the discipline to make music, not noise. USA TODAY’s Del Jones went to Wynton Marsalis, 45, artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, who was named one of America’s Best Leaders in 2006 by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and U.S. News & World Report.

USAToday: Hot Corporations know how to swing

 

In addtion to an interesting interview, the piece also has several excellent tips from Marsalis:

• Everything in jazz and business starts with integrity. Listen to others. Respect them. Build trust.
• Groups who work together “swing.” They believe “we” is more important than “me,” and by doing so, absorb mistakes.
• You can be creative inside or outside of tradition. Inside, you reinvigorate. Outside, you counter-state.
• Creative people dare to be laughed at. They don’t act like what they are. They be what they are.
• Embrace opposites. They are, in fact, the same.

Update: see also Rhythms In Business

Following up on the last entry on IBM’s Jazz software, I came across Jazz Technologies, a company founded by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and two other former Apple execs. Last fall they acquired a company called Jazz Semiconductor whose mission statement lists three key values that resonate with the objectives of IBM’s Jazz:

Innovative
We create breakthrough solutions for silicon technology and business processes that result in product successes for our customers.
Innovation can happen in a more predictable manner than invention, with a shorter time-to-profit
Key components of innovation are motivated people plus an open environment
Our ability to innovate is tested daily by our customers

Collaborative
People are the foundation of our organization. We empower teams to be business owners, foster boundary-less organizations, and embrace diversity. We enjoy working in partnerships, both internally and externally.
Working together toward collective goals
Being a “team player”
Working with customers and for customers to achieve optimal solutions

Agile
We are quick, resourceful, and adaptable; completely focused on meeting customer needs. We do this by:
Listening to customers and doing our best to meet their needs
Being flexible in business negotiations to create mutually beneficial partnerships between Jazz and its customers
Thinking “outside the box” to arrive at creative solutions for our customers, their end products, and their design needs

This synergy isn’t surprising given the close relationship between hardware I recently posted on in The Roots of Hardware. Wozniak, the hardware genius behind the original Apple computer appears to be very involved, holding three positions:

• Executive Vice President
• Chief Technical Officer
• Chief Visionary Officer

Very interesting given the musical relationship between the counterculture of the 1960’s and technology - Apple was born out of that counterculture .
Jazz

Wozniak

Apple

Simplicity through consistency. Collaboration in context. Agility through transparency… Jazz is about helping people work together to build software more effectively, while making the software development experience more fun!

Jazz is a joint project between IBM Rational and IBM Research to build a scalable, extensible team collaboration platform for seamlessly integrating tasks across the software lifecycle.

IBM Jazz 

 See also CNET coverage

In other blogs, I’ve quoted Alan Kay’s statement that “hardware is just software crystallized” and I’m about to do so again(the link will show up in the comments) because as more and more hardware companies move into software, people are realizing where the real value is. Consequently I though it might be valuable given the pending release of the iPhone, to revisit how this transformation began and what the driving foces are. I covered that topic in the first few pages of Jazz and the Future of Global E-Commerce which follow.

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