Arianna Wright Rosenbluth: the woman behind the Metropolis Monte Carlo algorithm

In recent years, there has been a huge interest in rediscovering the lost contributions of women and other minorities to science. Here we shine light on yet another such hidden figure: Dr. Arianna Wright Rosenbluth, co-inventor of the Metropolis Monte Carlo method, which is, by any measure, one of the most important algorithms ever developed. Monte Carlo describes a wide range of numerical techniques that use random numbers. The Metropolis algorithm generalized this initially specialized method to solve any equilibrium statistical physics problem (and indeed, many problems outside of physics). Since its introduction in 1953, it has become the most common form of Monte Carlo and spread beyond physics to chemistry, biology, social science, finance, and even pure math; its use is now so widespread that it is commonly mistaken for being a synonym for Monte Carlo itself. Arianna Rosenbluth, herself a child prodigy and fully-qualified physicist, wrote the first complete computer implementation of the Metropolis algorithm. In this talk, I will describe the historical and scientific context for this revolutionary algorithm and its connections to the development of the hydrogen bomb.