From Hidden Utility to Heroic Machines

How do scientists imagine (and possibly enable) futures through their practices of computation? How might particular tools and approaches transition from serving as hidden utilitarian elements to those that give rise to new subfields and styles of thought? This presentation takes a historical approach to the emergence of computation in macromolecular science, an interdiscipline focused on polymers that bridges physics, chemistry, and materials science and engineering. In this field today, there is a palpable enthusiasm for the power and speed of computation investing in the promise of big data to revolutionize what is possible within these disciplines. Employing tools of high-throughput simulation and new machine learning algorithms, scientists aim to close the gap between theory and experiment, and redefine what it means to create, designing new sustainable materials built with atomic precision. However, in the late 1950s when computation was yet a nascent tool, often used for verification of existing models (rather than one for creation) scientists studying the physical behavior of long chain molecules downplayed, mistrusted, or even openly disdained computational methods. Along with fellow panelists this presentation will open space for reflection on tools, methods, and imagination.