Book excerpt: The 20th century saw tremendous achievements and progress in science and technology. Undoubtedly, computers and computer-related technologies acted as one of vital catalysts for accelerating this progress in the latter half of the century. The contributions of mathematical sciences have been equally profound, and the synergy between mathematics and computer science has played a key role in accelerating the progress of both fields as well as science and engineering. Mathematical sciences will undoubtedly continue to play this vital role in this new century. In particular, mathematical modeling and numerical simulation will continue to be among the essential methodologies for solving massive and complex problems that arise in science, engineering and manufacturing. Underpinning this all from a sound, theoretical perspective will be numerical algorithms. In recognition of this observation, this volume focuses on the following specific topics. (1) Fundamental numerical algorithms (2) Applications of numerical algorithms (3) Emerging technologies. The articles included in this issue by experts on advanced scientific and engineering computations from numerous countries elucidate state-of-the-art achievements in these three topics from various angles and suggest the future directions. Although we cannot hope to cover all the aspects in scientific and engineering computations, we hope that the articles will interest, inform and inspire members of the science and engineering community.