Anyone alive in the latter 20th century is familiar with computers and the concept of working via these silicon-chip-driven modern wonders. A typical handheld computing device today has more computing power than a 1960s computer that would have filled an entire room. In today's world, computing size equals speed: the smaller the faster. With computing speed nearly doubling every 18 months, today's computing power is more than 100 million times that of a computer in 1970. What does the future hold for computers and their ever-growing power. In UNDERSTANDING SUPERCOMPUTING, you'll discover what constitutes a 'supercomputer', how the super-computers of today function, how you can make your own computer into a super machine - it's a matter of networking - and what tomorrow holds in store for computer usage in terms of hardware, software and everyday applications.