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Electronic Computers 



I. Need for High Speed Computation 



In physics, it is customary to analyze simple (or simplified) situations 

 so that the mathematical description can be written in a closed (or 

 complete) form. For example, in mechanics, most calculations ignore 

 the role of friction. Similarly, in the study of thermodynamics and of 

 electricity and magnetism, the physical systems emphasized are those 

 capable of description in terms of known mathematical functions. 

 For the development of general physical theorems, and for an intuitive 

 understanding of physical principles, this simplified approach has been 

 very instructive. Ignoring many experimental details which failed to 

 fit the simple theory (or explaining them away) has been an essential 

 step in the development of classical physics. 



However, applications of basic theory to increasingly complex prob- 

 lems have become an important part of science, in engineering, in 

 modern physics, and in physiology. Biophysicists likewise often en- 

 counter complex problems which do not have a simple mathematical 

 solution. The physical description of the motion of the cochlea in the 

 inner ear, the equations describing enzyme reactions, the theory of the 

 diffusion of oxygen into cells, and the mathematical description of the 

 conduction of impulses by nerves are all problems which cannot be 

 solved exactly in terms of known mathematical functions. 



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