Four years ago, scientists around the globe commemorated the centennial of Albert Einstein’s 1905 annus mirabilis, in which he published stunning work on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion and special relativity—thus reshaping the face of physics in one grand swoop. Intriguingly, 2005 also marked another important anniversary for physics, although it passed unnoticed by the public at large.
Figure 1. It’s possible to surf England’s Severn River because the Severn’s broad estuary periodically funnels exceptionally high flood tides up river, forming what’s known as a tidal bore. The waves that follow the initial onrush maintain their form for many kilometers, allowing record-breaking surfing runs. Such nondispersive waves arise in many physical systems, including a seemingly simple system of masses and springs that Enrico Fermi, John Pasta and Stanislaw Ulam studied using computational experiments at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in 1955. Their pioneering research ushered in the era of computer-aided discovery, deeply influencing many fields of science and mathematics.
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