A sampler of my articles for Scientific Computing World.

You may also enjoy reading Difference of Opinion, the archives of a column I co-wrote with Felix Grant, looking at modern computing from the imagined perspective of the computing pioneers Babbage and Lovelace. My weblog, The Apothecary's Drawer, also covers many scientific/artistic stories.

Click here to visit my work page.

• Sound sense - "Ray Girvan reports on sonification - the representation of data as sound. Well-established in applications for the visually impaired, it has far wider scientific possibilities". Mar/Apr 2005
• The beat goes on - "A well (or badly!) timed baseball to the chest can cause cardiac fibrillation. Ray Girvan explores how science is unlocking the secrets of the human heart". Feb 2005
• MuPAD 3 AND Maple 9.5 - "Chance pairing shows deep connection between products". Aug 2004.
• Femlab 3.0: widening the finite element bounds - "Ray Girvan finds Femlab 3 is fast, friendly, and just the thing for multiphysics problems". May/June 2004.
• Derive 6: Far too good just for students - "Maths education is the main market for Derive, but Ray Girvan thinks this software should have a much wider appeal". April 2004.
• A free lunch, anybody? - "Free maths software is available over the Internet, but Ray Girvan thinks that many users may still prefer to pay ". April 2004.
• Inventive problem solving - "Ray Girvan investigates TRIZ; a methodology for formalising the invention process according to empirical rules". Nov/Dec 2003.
• The revealed grace of the mechanism: computing after Babbage the rise of the machines - both digital and analogue - in an era of mechanical computation. May/Jun 2003.
• Going wth the flow "Ray Girvan looks at the ubiquitous but little-understood Navier-Stokes equations ". Mar/Apr 2003.
• A click of the mouse ... and then everything became clear: a survey of image processing software for scientists. Feb 2003.
• Development through gaming Feature on the interface between mainstream scientific computing and computer gaming. Aug 2002.
• Mathematica creator turns author Review of Stephen Wolfram's book, A New Kind of Science. Aug 2002.
• Maple 8 keeps everybody happy Review of the Maple 9 mathematics package. Aug 2002.
• Mathcad for the engineer
  Review of new XP-compliant Mathcad 2001i, with its increased focus on the engineering market. Jun 2002
• Matlab: the battle for hearts and minds
  Review of the market for Matlab and clones; includes educational feature by Felix Grant.

• Differential Approaches
  Reviews of Diffpack and Maple 7, two packages with powerful but differing approaches to PDE solution. Dec 2001.
• Having a nose for the job
  Neural network software for scientific computing (co-written with Felix Grant). Dec 2001.
• The safety of structures
  Review of Strand7, a finite element package for engineering applications. Sep 2001.
• MuPAD feels the benefits of going commercial
  Review of the MuPAD 2.0 maths package. Jul 2001.
• Working with grids of all shapes and sizes
  Review with Felix Grant of TecPlot 9.0. Jul 2001.
• CalculationCenter: an easy starting point
  Wolfram's new mathematics package: Mathematica-style, but for users with little or no experience of Mathematica. Field test by Felix Grant. May 2001.
• Sharper ... and better.
  Scientific Workplace, the high-end LaTeX program, now with MacKichan Software. Field test by Felix Grant. Mar 2001
• All change for families of mathematical software.
  Spring 2001 overview of mathematical packages. Mar 2001
• As clear as crystallography?
  Overview of the commercial crystallography programs for PC and Mac. Mar 2001
• PDQ for PDE models.
  Review of Femlab, Consol's integrated package for Finite Element Method modelling. Mar 2001
• Matlab: Much imitated but never bettered.
  Matlab 6: the 'Fortran of the 1990s' in the new millennium. Field test by Felix Grant. Jan 2001.
• A mid-range program that makes crystal clearer.
  Review of Crystallographica. Aug 2000
• There's still much to Derive after the Texas takeover.
  Review of the Derive 5 mathematical package. Aug 2000.
• From al-Khwarizmi to the Numerical Algorithms Group.
  Company profile co-written with Felix Grant. Apr 2000.
• Mathcad 2000 makes it through the millennial mire.
  Mathematics software review. Feb 2000
• Maple breaks out of the pure mathematical mould.
  Review of the Maple 6 mathematical package.
• Helping engineers to find the right materials.
  Review of Cambridge Engineering Selector 3.0.
• Back to Babbage - but the engine is the real hero.
  Book review: "The Cogwheel Brain".
• Assessing the impact of Howard Aiken.
  Review of books on the computing pioneer.
• Quick on the draw.
  Overview of scientific sketch and drawing packages.