Nicholas Metropolis helped develop electronic-computer implementations of the Monte Carlo method at Los Alamos. Instead of tracking every possible sequence of events analytically, the method samples individual random histories and estimates quantities from their collective outcomes.
His firsthand 1987 account describes simulations of neutron transport: sampled flight distances and interactions generate a history, and repeating histories estimates transport behaviour. The scientific contribution connects probability to a computational experiment, making problems accessible even when their many possible paths are difficult to enumerate.[ref]
The Beginning of the Monte Carlo Method by Nicholas Metropolis. The Spark and The Method, pp. 126–127
Nicholas Metropolis in his Los Alamos identification photograph
. Los Alamos National Laboratory badge photograph; Wikimedia Commons provenance record. Articles by others on the same topic
Nicholas Metropolis was a prominent American physicist and mathematician, best known for his contributions to the fields of quantum mechanics and computational physics. Born on February 7, 1915, and passing away on October 17, 2018, he played a significant role in the development of the field of statistical mechanics and made notable contributions to the Monte Carlo method, which is a computational technique used to model complex systems and processes.