Abstract
Computers have long been used as a means of calculation in other sciences, whether natural sciences or mathematics. But a profound change of vision of its role in the natural sciences is underway: algorithmic thinking and its computational realizations are now bringing a fresh look at the way phenomena are studied, and this is particularly true in the life sciences, which have historically been little touched by mathematical approaches.
Modeling and simulation techniques, originally designed simply to imitate reality, are becoming fundamental conceptual and practical tools for understanding the phenomena concerned. They lead to a new algorithmic vision of the laws of nature, where information and its calculation are used to represent the classical objects of study - matter, waves and energy - in a uniform way.
