Ruby and celestial mechanics… two great tastes that taste great together.

I saw this mentioned on the Ruby-Talk mailing list. The Kali Code for Dense Stellar Systems by Piet Hut and Jun Makino is a conversation between two astrophysists as they build a computer simulation of the N-Body problem. And they are using Ruby to write the simulation. It is a great introduction to the Ruby language in addition to being a fun problem to solve.

My first job out of college was at Cape Canaveral working on deep space trajectory programs. It has been many years since I flexed my math muscles in celestial mechanices, so it was kinda fun to see that stuff again. I’ve only read through the second chapter, but I’m eagerly looking forward to the rest.

If you are looking to learn Ruby and aren’t frightened by a bit of math (well, perhaps more than a bit), you might enjoy this.