Scientific Computing and Cultural Heritage

The sheer computing power of modern information technology is changing the face of research not just in science, technology and mathematics, but in humanities and cultural studies too. Recent decades have seen a major shift both in attitudes and deployment of computers, which are now vital and highly effective tools in disciplines where they were once viewed as elaborate typewriters. This revealing volume details the vast array of computing applications that researchers in the humanities now have recourse to, including the dissemination of scholarly information through virtual ‘co-laboratories’, data retrieval, and the modeling of complex processes that contribute to our natural and cultural heritage. One key area covered in this book is the versatility of computers in presenting images and graphics, which is transforming the analysis of data sets and archaeological reconstructions alike.

The papers published here are grouped into three broad categories that cover mathematical and computational methods, research developments in information systems, and a detailed portrayal of ongoing work on documenting, restoring and presenting cultural monuments including the temples in Pompeii and the Banteay Chhmar temples of the Angkorian period in present-day Cambodia. Originally presented at a research workshop in Heidelberg, Germany, they reflect the rapidly developing identity of computational humanities as an interdisciplinary field in its own right, as well as demonstrating the breadth of perspectives in this young and vibrant research area.