Peter Lax Dies, the Mathematician Who Helped Predict the Weather, Understand the Waves and Saved a Supercomputer

On May 16, one of the most brilliant mathematicians of the 20th century, Peter David Lax, who was awarded the Abel Prize — the “Nobel of mathematics” — died in 2005. His scientific achievements have been enormous: he made fundamental contributions to the theory of partial derivative equations and to the methods to solve them, keys in physical simulations and climate prediction, among many other issues. He pioneered the study of shock waves and h…