Computational research transforms the sciences (physical, mathematical, life or social) not just by instrumenting them and empowering them analytically, but also by providing a novel and powerful perspective which often leads to unforeseen insights. Examples abound: quantum computation provides the right forum for questioning and testing some of the most basic tenets of quantum physics, while statistical mechanics has found in the efficiency of randomized algorithms a powerful metaphor for phase transitions. The P vs. NP question has joined the list of the most profound and consequential open problems in Mathematics, while considerations of computational complexity force us to revise basic tenets of modern economic thought, such as the Nash equilibrium. And in biology some of the most fundamental problems, such as understanding of the role of sex in evolution, can be productively recast in computational terms.

Christos H. Papadimitriou is C. Lester Hogan Professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley. Before joining Berkeley in 1996 he taught at Harvard, MIT, Athens Polytechnic, Stanford, and UCSD. He has written five textbooks and many articles on algorithms and complexity, and their applications to optimization, databases, AI, economics, and the Internet. He holds a PhD from Princeton, and honorary doctorates from ETH (Zurich), the University of Macedonia (Thessaloniki), the University of Athens, and the University of Cyprus. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the ACM. His novel /Turing/ was published by MIT Press in 2003, and his graphic novel /Logicomix/ was published by Bloomsbury in September 2009.