SCIENCE

Data computation has been called the "third pillar of science," alongside the ancient pillars of logic and observation, and upon which future scientific breakthroughs will rest. Graphics processing units (GPUs) have revolutionized data computation, and are playing a key role in enabling leading researchers and academics to drive the next wave of scientific discovery.

Morgan Kaufmann has collaborated with NVIDIA Corporation, a leader in GPU computing technologies, to produce a new series of books that will demonstrate how GPUs and advanced parallel computing techniques can be harnessed within different domains to enable new scientific breakthroughs. Each GPU Computing Gems volume will provide practical techniques and real-world examples straight from the leading minds in general purpose GPU research.

Computational scientists increasingly utilize GPUs for computational-intensive applications to achieve dramatic improvements in processing power, efficiency and power consumption. The challenge for developers in the new arena of scientific research is learning how to program systems that effectively use these concurrent processors to achieve these goals, and GPU Computing Gems was created to provide real-world tips and guidance to assist researchers. Each chapter presents techniques used in leading research, designed to be accessible to others in multiple fields and disciplines, allowing knowledge to cross-pollinate across the GPU spectrum.

GPU Computing Gems: Emerald Edition is the first volume in this new series, which will focus on how GPU computing can be applied to:

• Scientific Simulation
• Life Sciences
• Statistical Modeling
• Emerging Data-Intensive Applications
• Electronic Design Automation
• Ray Tracing and Rendering
• Computer Vision
• Video and Image Processing
• Signal and Audio Processing
• Medical Imaging

Editor-in-Chief Wen-mei W. Hwu, the Walter J. ("Jerry") Sanders III-Advanced Micro Devices Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Coordinated Science Laboratory of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has assembled the leading researchers in parallel programming and gathered their solutions and experiences in one volume under the guidance of expert editors.

The second volume, titled GPU Computing Gems: Jade Edition, will also be edited by Wen-mei W. Hwu, and will gather experts from eight critical GPU computing domains:

• Programming Tools and Libraries
• Financial Modeling
• Engineering Simulation
• Environment Methodology
• Interactive Physics Simulation and AI for Games and Entertainment
• Numerical Algorithms
• Parallel Algorithms
• Data Structures

The Jade Edition will be published in June 2011. Both titles are part of Morgan Kaufmann's Applications of GPU Computing series. Additional books will follow in 2011 and beyond to help researchers and developers leverage GPUs to improve application speed and efficiency.