Some Comments from a Numerical Analyst
James Hardy Wilkinson · Journal of the ACM · 1971
Nalional Physical Laboralory, Teddinglon, Middlesex, England ,XBSTm~CT.A description is given of life with A.M. Turing at the National Physical Laboratory in the early days of the development of electronic computers (1946)(1947)(1948).The present mood of pessimism among numerical analysts resulting from difficult relationships with computer scientists and mathematician,s is discussed.It is suggested that• in light of past and present performance this pessimism is unjustified and is the main enemy of progress in numerical mathematics.Some achievements iu the fields of matrix computations and error analysis are discussed and likely changes ia the direction of research in numerical analysis am sketched.