Modelaide

Abstract

Mathematical modeling is a subtle mental exercise in which the computer, as we know it, can only serve as a mechanical aid. While the computer can improve the sum of squares given data, model, and first estimate of parameters, and while it can perform routine transformations on data, or error analyses, finally a man must judge if the fit is good, if the model makes sense, if parameters can be discarded, if an observation is faulty, and countless other judgements which are impractical to program. To quote Richard Hamming, "The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers." Our purpose is to lower the computation barrier between an investigator and a useful model.