Learning from Bananas: An Introduction to Scientific Computing

Two pixelated gorillas stand on skyscrapers, tossing bananas across a city skyline. Each throw arcs through the air, sometimes overshooting, all governed by simple laws of motion. In this course, we will explore how to model, simulate, and ultimately predict these flights using scientific computing. What starts as a playful game will guide us through core techniques for understanding and solving real-world problems.

Scientific computing sits at the intersection of mathematics, modeling, and computation: it is about turning simple physical ideas into executable models and using numerical methods to explore their behavior. In this course, we will ground these ideas in a deceptively simple example inspired by the classic gorilla.bas game. Behind this iconic setting lies a complete scientific workflow — choosing a model, identifying parameters, simulating outcomes, and interpreting results. By working with a familiar and intuitive problem, we can focus on the core principles of scientific computing without being overwhelmed by large codebases or unnecessary technical complexity.