  The year 1953 is pivotal for computational physics: the first application of
the Monte-Carlo method is published and calculations of the so-called
Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou experiment are started. It is the beginning of the
massive use in the physical sciences of numerical methods implemented on
electronic computers and a decisive step in the development of modern nonlinear
dynamics. This will lead to an unpredictable development during the following
70 years. We briefly review the unfolding of these events and present some
recent results that show how the issues raised are still relevant today

History and Philosophy of Physics