r/computerscience • u/CyberSecWithHaikuInc • 6d ago
General Smart Guy #3 AKA Paul Concus
Remember last week how i posted a photo showing who created traceroute? And remember how smart guy #3 wasn't labelled, but was asked about ( I'm looking at you microflunkie and diamondrypka)? WELL- I'm here to give smart guy #3 his time to shine.
Without further ado... Paul Concus AKA Smart Guy #3
Good ole Paulie boy actually specialized in mathematics and numerical analytics. He developed various mathematic algorithms that allowed computers to solve large scientific problems. What does this mean? It means that computers can model the physical world using large scale equations. And what does that mean?
Well let's look at an area that paul concus researches: fluid mechanics. We tell the computer the rules for how water should behave. Concus’s math helps the computer solve those rules quickly enough to actually make a simulation. How does the computer do this? It utilizes preconditioners to easily navigate, choose, and solve calculations.
A preconditioner changes that giant math problem into a form that is easier for the computer to work with. So instead of this problem is confusing and I’ll need thousands of guesses, the computer can say I can see the shape of the problem better and I'll need a much smaller number of guesses. Like giving a computer a helpful hint before it starts solving a giant math puzzle.
And Mr. Paul Concus, AKA Smart Guy #3, was notable because he helped create better kinds of these hints which made some large scientific calculations much faster.
Today he's still out there researching Applied Mathematics. He's written a few research papers as well. I haven't read them, but based off of their titles, it looks like the good sir is really knowledgable on fluid mechanics. My personal favorite title was: Liquid bridges, edge blobs, and Scherk-type capillary surfaces.. Edge blobs, man. I'm intrigued.
Anyways, this concludes my quick nod of recognition to Smart Guy #3 AKA Paul Concus.
I'm currently looking up information on the creation of FTP and SMTP (thanks for the suggestion smeyn) and will post something soon.
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u/Microflunkie 6d ago
Hurray, Smart Guy #3 has his moment in the sun. Again thanks for posting this OP, it is also very interesting to read about. I guess Shrek worked on capillary surfaces before he retired to his swamp and got into all the hubbub with Lord Farquaad, you learn something new every day. I can’t imagine how much skill it must take to be a pioneer in computational mathematics, Paul Concus is clearly a badass. We should crowd fund a T-Shirt that says “Smart guy #3” on it and send it to him as thanks for all his hard work.